Times of Grace
by TwoZeroTwo
Summary: On another Bureau-administrated planet, a group of mages get a new beginning. Along with resolving conflict among themselves, they may also get the chance to save another group who is headed down their own dark road. 3rd story in my MGLN-universe series. Contains all original characters and setting. Post-StrikerS / Pre-SSX
1. All Things Ordinary

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, I am TwoZeroTwo. Several years ago, I wrote two stories set in the Nanoha universe with original characters and a new setting that I had created. The first story, **Raze the Stray** , was posted in early 2013 and then its sequel, **Raise the Dawn** , was posted from late 2013 to late 2014. I hadn't really intended to write any more, but recently I've fleshed out some of the ideas I had for a plot or other characters into something cohesive enough to be a full story. It's probably the timing and release of the ViVid Strike anime that really got me putting this all together recently. But now, two years since the end of my last story, I bring you its sequel, and, as I mentioned, the third in my Nanoha series.

I understand - two full stories is a lot to have to read to get set up for this one. And that's why I want to say **you shouldn't need to read the previous stories to understand this one.** If you have read RtS and RtD, then thank you for doing so, but it's been two years and unless you read them recently, you probably don't remember all the details. I'll provide a short summary of both stories below, but once I have the characters set up, in Chapter 3 of this story I will have a scene that goes through the backstory well enough to cover what I think you should know. Otherwise, I should have written well enough that you're not confused - message me if there's anything you notice that is distracting.

Raze the Stray introduced the main character, Bathory Kardenis, and took place on Bathory's home planet, Administrated World #84 - Siba. He was on the run from the Siban TSAB for a crime he didn't commit, and the Siban TSAB brought in Ace Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown to track Bathory down. She figured out Bathory was actually innocent and brought him to Midchilda when he was captured.

Raise the Dawn took place on Midchilda after Bathory was brought there and followed him and some others from Siba as the two planets clashed over Bathory's return home. In the process, he met and dragged a bunch of the canon characters into the conflict. At the end, Bathory and two other mages from Siba renounced their status as members of the Siban bureau and moved to a new planet for their rehabilitation. And here we are, a couple years later. In-universe, as well as out, I guess. Total coincidence.

If you do want to read the other two stories, go ahead, though if you only have time for one story, I would definitely recommend Raise the Dawn. It's more polished, contains more interactions with the canon characters, and there's a lot from it that's referenced and set up as defining moments for the characters. But again, Chapter 3 will have a bigger explanation of the story so far.

As with the previous two stories, the plot will be on a lower-scale than the massive conflicts of the first three seasons of Nanoha. Conflicts will mostly be on a personal scale, though things will ramp up obviously and there will definitely be some of that classic "friendship-through-victorious-battles" formula the Nanoha series has so much of. Anyways, on with the show!

* * *

 _Close your eyes  
And watch very closely_

 _And when your mind finally cracks at first you will perceive it as a trick  
But you just can't wrap your head around it  
Let alone be the soul who figures it out  
And in the pursuit of acquired tastes  
And with this new found food for thought  
For the first time in your life you will swallow all of your doubt  
You'll find all of your worries are running off now  
As if you never even had them  
You've got your reasons to want to see new seasons  
that you've been cursed to never fathom  
And in that very void  
Shining through that crack in our condition  
I say 'choose to stay'_

Okkotonushi - _Talk_

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - All Things Ordinary**

* * *

Planet: Administrated World #55 – Nemelendelle  
City: Djavo Nije  
Date: April 30, 0078  
Time: 5:30 PM

Negati's feet pushed down onto the treadmill below her. She was jogging briskly, but the machine spun its track to keep her in place. It was nearing the end of its programmed routine, and in the final stretch, it kicked the elevation up just enough to pose an extra challenge to the mage. She reached for her water bottle and took another drink, though the bottle was nearly out. Sweat covered her body, and her dry throat begged for more water.

"Come on…come on…" she mumbled.

Around her, the public gym bustled with other equipment and other people's routines, but Negati didn't focus on any of that. One leg in front of the other. Strong, solid, consistent breaths. Her red hair was tied up in a high ponytail, but the end of it still bounced across her back, keeping another rhythm with her steps. Her eyes stared down at the interface of the machine. The outline of a circle was slowly filling up with red lights to indicate her progress, and as the treadmill ran the last couple of meters, the outline filled entirely with green lights and the machine beeped loudly.

The motor wound down underneath her and the track slowed to a stop. Negati followed the pace of the track and then stood there in place, hands gripping the two arms of the treadmill. She took a couple more deep breaths then reached for a small towel laying on one of the arms to wipe off her face.

Off to the side and somewhat behind her, a young man stood by the wall and watched. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and was dressed more heavily than the workout attire Negati was wearing – a jacket with long sleeves rested on top of his plain shirt and his legs were covered fully too. He was a bit taller than the woman, but she was a bit older. They were both in their early 20's, but Negati had half a year up on him. In the man's right hand, he held a dark green gem, somewhat thin and with the shape of a sun. The gem was connected by a loop of thread that wound up around his right wrist and lower right arm, keeping it in place and close within reach. In his other hand, he held a cold, unopened bottle of water.

As Negati took another drink from her bottle and emptied it dry, Bathory Kardenis pushed off the wall and walked towards her. Negati gathered up the empty bottle and towel and was stepping off the machine when she saw Bathory walking up.

"Need a little more?" he asked, holding his hand out.

Negati smiled as she let out another breath and took the bottle from him.

"You know me so well" she said, cracking the lid off the top and taking a long drink. When that was done, she exhaled in relief and turned to Bathory.

"Have I told you today that I love you?"

Negati didn't wait for a response; she got right back to drinking as Bathory smiled and chuckled lightly.

"Well, I had to leave kinda early this morning, so…"

As Negati took another gulp, Bathory went to put his arms around her. However, she held her hand up and stopped him.

"Bathory, wait, I'm – I'm all sweaty and stuff. Let me shower first."

The other mage looked at her, putting on a sad – if intentionally over the top – face. Negati chuckled as well and handed Bathory her things. She walked away from the equipment to do some cooldown stretches. First, she raised her arms high above her head, touching her hands together at the top, and then bend over to point them down at the ground.

"So," she asked, "you really for our battle tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Bathory responded, "the ground training session, right?"

Negati finished with that stretch and, with her hands kept together, rose back up and bent to the left as far as she could then did the same in the other direction.

"Right. We've got a new Captain transferring here to Nemelendelle and I guess she wants to evaluate some of the resources she's got under her now. So, at the end of tomorrow's session, we'll put on a little sparring match and she'll get to see the power of First Lieutenant Negati Winter!"

Negati finished her stretches and walked right up to Bathory.

"And…" she continued, "First Lieutenant Negati Winter's boyfriend."

Bathory laughed again and lowered his voice.

"Oh, is that how I'm listed?"

Negati smiled and went in for a quick kiss. They parted, and Bathory's eyes were open in mock astonishment.

"Wha…what happened to being all gross?" he asked.

"I cooled down some" she replied as she got her stuff and walked off. "Now I'm gonna shower. Meet you out front!"

* * *

Nemelendelle was a quiet planet. Compared to the Time Space Administration Bureau's busiest and most important worlds, like Midchilda, it was a far cry from the massive cities and bureau departments found on those – though it was equally as far from the untracked land and isolation of other planets. It was a good potential choice for mages placed in the TSAB's rehabilitation program who wished for a new beginning away from what landed them in trouble, or a place to stay momentarily before reintegration into another world.

The main city, Djavo Nije, was not large enough for a teleportation center to be constructed. Instead, everyone traveling off planet or arriving there had to land at the spaceport that was connected to the city by a long, flat road. Passengers heading towards the city would pass by flat fields of short grass, unobstructed by trees or other foliage. But soon, there would be signs of life – agriculture and farms would dot the landscape, followed by more structured grids of buildings and houses before one entered the limits of the city itself. There were areas for everything on Nemelendelle with regards to recreation, events, training, and of course, management by the Bureau.

Out by the edge of town, near the road leading away from it, a white van in rough shape was parked in front of an open field and two figures were leaning against the side of it. There was a boy in his mid-teens with short black hair, wearing full clothing to protect against the slight chill that came with the wind. Next to him appeared to be a woman in her early twenties, with light brown hair that went down her back and with clothes that seemed to be fitted for somebody else. They hung a bit loosely from her shoulders and waist, and she crossed her arms to warm herself a bit. Her tail twitched a bit in response and her long ears lowered to keep out of the wind.

She was a familiar, originally a fox, currently in her human form.

The two of them looked up at the horizon as a medium-sized ship came down from the skies over the port. They followed its gradual approach until it neared the ground and disappeared over the horizon line. The boy looked down at the ground and sighed. He remembered what he saw from the windows of a similar ship, a couple months ago. Back then, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't know how to feel. He had no say in any of this. He was brought along to this planet with his sister and his sister's familiar. It was for his sister's benefit, or at least it was supposed to be.

Shaking his head, the boy focused in. He was here for a reason. He pushed off the van and went over to the back to open it up. He lightly pulled the handle and then the door seemed to swing open on its own accord. Pushing it out of the way, he reached for the objects in the cargo bay of the van and carried them all out under his arm. They were all long, thin poles - about as tall as he was - with circular targets grafted onto one end of them. He walked a short distance away into a field, struggling to hold the weight of the metal targets. The familiar watched the boy but remained where she was. She knew this was something he wanted to do himself.

When the boy had gone far enough, he set most of the targets down and held one up. Then, he drove it into the dirt, making sure the thin end had buried itself down far enough to stay upright. He repeated for the other poles, placing them in a line so the target circles faced back toward the van. When he finished his efforts, he walked back to the vehicle.

Both of them still remained silent. The boy was focused on the next task, and the other knew there was nothing to say. The younger mage reached into his pocket and held up an unassuming rectangular card-shaped device. It was a shade of brown that looked like an unpolished surface – as if a different color was supposed to go over it. Clutching the device in his hand, they boy held his hand up in front of him and stared out at the targets.

"Activate!" he shouted.

A pattern of lights pulsed across the card, and it began to transform into a pistol-shaped weapon. The grip formed first, which the boy wrapped his hand around as the body of the pistol formed next and a barrel formed at the end of it. Like its standby form had been, this device was a dull brown and looked obviously pieced together by an amateur. Some of the parts didn't seem to fit well with each other, and it lacked the sleekness that a well-made custom device would have.

How it looked wasn't important – or at least, not at the moment. The boy wasn't here to see how it looked. He was here to fire it.

He brought his other hand over to support the device and focused in to aim it straight at one of the targets. He held his breath and took several seconds to line the device up just right. When he thought he had it perfectly, he pulled the trigger.

A shot of energy flew out from the barrel. However, it missed the pole and flew off to the right.

The boy's eyes opened wide in disbelief. He stared at the targets for a bit before refocusing on the chevron on top of his weapon. Maybe he wasn't aimed right. He centered on the same target as before and took another few seconds to ensure he was absolutely still. When he knew he had it, he fired again.

This time, it arced left. The shot zipped past the target and back into the open air.

He couldn't believe it. He lost focus again and he opened his mouth, letting out a short burst of air. He was stunned.

The familiar knew what this could lead to and she finally spoke up.

"Vaele…"

Vaele Lumiere narrowed his eyes.

"What, Asana?"

Asana looked back at the targets.

"At least you're getting close…"

"I was getting closer yesterday. And…and the shots weren't going off in both directions."

Vaele took a deep breath. This wasn't what he expected to happen. He thought that he had aligned things better, going off what his results were from the last few days. He was really hoping to hit a target, at least. Asana didn't respond, and Vaele got back in the mindset. He focused in on the targets again. Maybe he could figure out a pattern in the sway. Maybe he could still get something out of this.

He readied himself, lined up another shot, and fired. This time, it arced down, shooting just under the target and bouncing in the dirt behind it. Vaele gritted his teeth and sighed harder than before.

"Dammit…" he mumbled. "I don't know what's wrong. I don't know what I did. I screwed this up. What a waste."

Asana frowned and uncrossed her arms.

"I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. I wish Miss Izah were here to help…"

The mention of Vaele's sister pinched a nerve on top of his already-building anger. He spun to face Asana and pounded his fist into the side of the van.

"I wish Izah would do ANYTHING!"

Asana turned to face Vaele and raised her voice as well.

"Vaele, she's your sister!"

"Yeah, and she ain't gonna help! You think she'd suddenly decide to come along?"

"Vaele, I-"

"You think anything's gonna change, Asana? You think one day it's just gonna be different?"

"Vaele, you know that she-"

"All she does is lay strung out in her room all day. Laying in her bed, clutching that bottle of her pills!"

"VAELE!" Asana cried.

The boy shut up. He just stood there, trembling. He and Asana knew there was nothing he needed to add. Asana looked away and crossed her arms again. Her ears twitched when another breeze blew past her.

"You know we need to stay positive for Miss Izah. You know she doesn't want this either."

Vaele looked out at the targets. He didn't much feel like continuing his attempts there.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"I know you're connected to her. I know you can feel how she is. Is she responsive? Is her latest pill wearing off? If we go back now, could I actually talk to her?"

Asana closed her eyes and focused on her master. Izah was always supplying her with the energy needed to power her own magic. She could tell her master's condition just as her master could tell hers. When she felt the connection for long enough, she responded.

"Yes, I believe so. I believe she will be stable."

Vaele nodded and held up his hand again.

"Then I think we're done here. Like I said, what a waste."

He looked at the device and deactivated it, putting the card in his pocket. Then, he went and gathered the targets, pulling them up out of the ground and dragging them over to the van. He chucked them in the back and then tried closing the door. The first time, it didn't latch and the door just swung right back open. Rolling his eyes, he tried again, forcing the door shut with all his might. He kept his hands in place for a few seconds, as if that would do anything. But this time, the doors stayed shut, and Vaele walked over and climbed into the driver's seat as Asana sat next to him.

He started the van, and it sounded like the engine was about to just drop out of the bottom. It startled Vaele, as it always did when something like that happened. He just left the vehicle running in park while his hands gripped the wheel.

"I hate this thing" he muttered. "Wish we still had the car the TSAB gave us. But of course she went and traded that out for this. Probably just to get more of her-"

"Vaele," Asana interrupted, "come on. She'll be waiting for us."

The boy sighed once again, and started to drive off. With one more heavy kick from the engine, they got back on the road.


	2. Unanswered

**A/N:** A lot of the names and chapter titles I 'come up with' are references to songs or bands that have really stuck with me. Along with the cool Raze/Raise thing I could do with the first two stories, both were named after songs by my favorite band of all time, **Neurosis** , and this story is too. Bathory Kardenis gets his first name from the boysetsfire song "Bathory's Sainthood" (another incredible band), Nemelendelle and Djavo Nije come from songs by Amenra and Consecration respectively, Izah is the name of a band whose 'Sistere' album was definitely best of 2015 for me, and Lumiere comes from a Mars Volta song. Chapter titles are usually references, and will probably be quoted from before or after the chapter. All Things Ordinary is a song by The Anniversary - it's a more upbeat song to reflect the first half of chapter 1, but its lyrics didn't exactly work to kick off the entire story. I'll probably provide more as more characters get introduced in a bit.

* * *

 _I was a good man once  
But years of unanswered prayers have left me faithless  
I was a good man once but now hopeless and abandoned  
I was a good man once  
But years of serving in hell have left me faithless  
I was a good man once but now hopeless and abandoned_

 _I let the pain in my head turn the veins in my arms to ash  
I feel the burn in my blood as the lungs in my chest collapse  
I feel the ache in my guts as the memories and hurt flood back  
When all I want to feel - all I want to feel - is nothing_

Defeater - _Unanswered_

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Unanswered**

* * *

Bathory and Negati stepped out from the car and walked up to the front porch of their home. It was fairly standard in appearance and color and looked similar to the other houses found further down the road in both directions. It was a single story place with three bedrooms.. They were loaned it at a monthly cost by the TSAB when they originally came to this planet, and the cost had dropped significantly with the group's continued service to the bureau.

"Well, if today is like normal," said Negati, "Arin should be about halfway done making us something. Are you hungry?"

"Are you?" asked Bathory. "You're the one who was just working out. I had a pretty boring day myself."

Negati shrugged.

"Oh. Well, let's see what's going on and then you can decide."

Bathory opened the door, expecting to be met with some scent from the kitchen. But instead, there was nothing, and it sounded like nothing was going on either.

"Arin?" Bathory called out. "Hello?"

Negati stepped inside and went over to the kitchen to check for Arin. Bathory shut the door and noticed that the door to Arin's room was shut. He walked over to it and knocked on it a couple times.

"Arin?" He asked. "You in here?"

He checked the door, saw it was unlocked, and opened it up. In the room, the third member of their house had his feet up on the bedframe and his hands on the ground, doing a set of push-ups.

"Oh," said Bathory. "Hey Arin."

Arin Vesceron took short, sharp breaths as he pushed off the ground over and over again. His face didn't show any expression – no strain, no surprise, nothing. He didn't even look at Bathory as he responded.

"Welcome back" he said plainly.

Bathory looked over at the kitchen.

"Aren't you normally, like, halfway done cooking by now?"

"I was delayed" said Arin, still absolutely expressionless.

"…oh. How delayed?"

"Almost fifteen minutes, judging by the time and my current activities. I am finishing up now."

As he said that, he did the last pushup and swung his feet onto the floor before standing up. The most immediate thing about Arin was his size – he was tall, standing up above most other mages. He also had short brown hair – though shorter than Bathory's – and he was around the same age as the other two. He and Bathory had been assembled into the same team of younger mages at the same time, after all. That was almost eight years ago and on a different planet, Administrated world 84 - Siba - dimensions away.

Arin brushed past Bathory without pausing. By now, Arin had cemented his daily routine, and after his exercises, it was time to make dinner. He passed Negati as well at the mouth of the kitchen, headed straight for the countertop.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him. She also knew he'd just keep moving by.

"I will see what we have before I decide" Arin responded, again without any inflection. He checked what they had, and after the survey, he pulled some vegetables over to the counter before reaching for a knife to cut them.

Bathory stood next to Negati and looked over at the other man.

"So…if you're just getting started…"

"You may choose to do something else" said Arin. "You understand that I would not think anything of that at all."

Negati nodded.

"Okay. In that case…"

She turned to face Bathory.

"I've got an idea. Why don't we make this a date night?"

Bathory smiled. He put his arms around Negati and she did the same to him.

"Ooh, date night, my favorite night. What are you thinking? Quiet? Loud?"

"Quiet, definitely quiet. And maybe…slow."

"Slow?" asked Bathory. "Aren't you hungry at all?"

Negati faked the slightest tick of being offended.

"Bathory, if we're going out, I don't want to breeze right through it! You got anything to do?"

Bathory smiled wider and equally faked being defensive.

"No, no, nothing like that!"

They both laughed lightly and Negati pulled Bathory in for a quick kiss. Leaning away, Bathory continued.

"So, we've got our timing now, but what do you want to eat?"

Negati wasn't quite sure. She looked away and had to think about it.

"Uhh…hmm, what am I feeling?"

Across the kitchen, Arin was still cutting the vegetables and overhearing the other two's conversation. He shouldn't have even minded their talk, but something was pulling him in and making each word ring clear to him. He knew exactly what this invisible force was, and he knew it perfectly, as this was far from the first time this happened to him.

It was the emotion.

Negati and Bathory were not performing a play. They were not acting, emphasizing for dramatic effect. They were simply having a normal conversation, but still one that reflected how one person made the other feel.

That was something Arin couldn't do anymore. He had been stripped of any emotion running through his brain, any mood or feeling his brain could possibly generate, any emotion to make any experience he had more than just stimuli or any part of the day different than just the second-by-second passing of time. Any emotion at all – except for one. Anger. The most negative and cruelest of all. It was left in him, the finishing touch to twist him into the ultimate symbol of consequence. To isolate him further from his prior self after the incident that he and Bathory were swept into. He knew he was supposed to feel negative towards Bathory, to drive off any mention of the other mage with explosive reactions to even his name. But due to his exploiter's quick, fevered, unfocused punishment, Arin realized he hated for reasons he could not recall, and that anger subsided back down to the baseline, emotionless apathy that defined the rest of his actions.

But the ability was still there. The potential to tap into anger and express it was still there. And he knew he used to be different. He knew he used to be normal. He used to be able to experience feelings like the other two were, and now he could never do so again. He missed those feelings. It had been years by this point. Years since he had anything but the one feeling considered so unacceptable to express. He could hide it, though. He just wouldn't show it. A bit of anger. Only a little, inspired by the scene behind him. Something to do. Something to let run through his mind. Something to feel…

He stopped focusing on what he was doing, and the knife slipped when he brought it down. It slid over to his hand and cut into the skin.

Startled, his eyes shot open and the pain sent an unexpected jolt through his mind. His controlled anger suddenly amplified itself and he acted as if on instinct. He balled his fist on his bleeding hand and slammed it into the counter while crying out through gritted teeth.

Bathory and Negati immediately spun their heads to look at Arin. Their eyes also shot open and they stood there, startled by the sudden display. Nobody moved or spoke a word. It was dead silent, even from Arin. He also stood there, hand down on the counter, blood running down the side and dripping onto the surface below. All three mages stood there, completely still, for several seconds.

Arin reacted first. He realized he had just done that publicly, and he also realized he was bleeding. There was little he could do now about that first one, so in one focused move he washed the anger out of him and returned to his usual self. With focused, decisive actions he grabbed a paper towel and wiped the blood off the counter as well as any that was on his hand. He walked over to the trash, dropped the paper towel in then headed to the sink. He turned it on, and as he ran his hand under it, he spoke plainly to the others.

"I am only scratched lightly. You do not need to worry about my injury."

After he washed himself off, he went to the medicine cabinet and got a bandage to wrap around his hand. As he did that, Negati finally looked away, back at Bathory.

"I'll go get ready, how about that?"

Bathory had a bit of a delayed reaction, but he nodded as Negati went over to their room.

"Y…yeah, yeah, sounds good."

Negati shut the door, and Bathory started thinking about several things. First, there was the scene he just witnessed. Maybe he should mention that. Or maybe he shouldn't. He didn't know. Then, there was something else. A question he'd been turning over in his mind. Something he'd been thinking about. Something that would kind of be a big deal. Something involving Negati.

Maybe it was something he should ask Arin about. Bathory walked over to the other man.

"Hey, Arin, could you maybe take a little break, and…I could maybe talk to you about something. Something sort of private."

"Something you do not want Negati hearing, right?"

Bathory sighed. Was he really that obvious?

"Yeah. Something between the two of us."

Arin paused what he was doing and followed Bathory as the two of them went out to the front porch. It wasn't a massive addition to the place but there was room for several chairs placed next to each other to look out at the area around the front of the house. Arin sat in one chair while Bathory sat next to him. Bathory held up his right hand and started fidgeting with his device.

"Aphelion, you'll let me know when she's coming, right?"

The green gem pulsed slightly with light as it responded.

[AFFIRMATIVE, MASTER – I WILL LET YOU KNOW]

Bathory nodded and lowered his hand. Then, he looked over at Arin.

"First, I…ugh, I mean, I'm sorry, just – just, what just happened sorta caught me off guard there."

"I understand, Bathory."

"I mean, just, you know, you're usually so…so quiet, I kinda forget you can…you can still, you know…"

"I understand the basis of my condition, Bathory."

Bathory knew to just move on. He nodded again and got to the important topic.

"Well, yeah, I want to talk about me and Negati. You know, you've been there for most of our relationship – at least, most of our serious relationship. I mean, at the very start, she was a TSAB mage and I was…I was a criminal."

Bathory looked out at the view in front of him. He seemed to stare off at something in the distance as he spoke.

"And then, when I was on Midchilda for a bit, she came over too, partly to monitor me and partly to get away. Siba was getting on her case for…for really allowing me to get off planet in the first place."

Bathory forced a smile. It was obvious through his inflection what he was having to remember.

"I mean, you remember Siba, right Arin? It wasn't that long ago. A couple years now, since we left. Since everything happened."

"I understand clearly" said Arin.

"Right" said Bathory. He looked down now, at his right leg. It didn't look like there was anything different there, but both mages understood what it meant to Bathory.

"So then," he continued, "I'm on Midchilda and all of that happens, I pull you out, and we all decide 'no, we aren't going back'. We can't go back. And…even if Negati and I were a little excited…I know we were both also terrified."

Bathory looked at Arin.

"We were all starting over. A whole new world – and an infinite amount of them too, away from Siba. At first we stuck together because it was so much to deal with, you know? It was like we were boats in a storm. But then, after a couple months, we realized just what that meant. We knew exactly what we were both dealing with and what we were trying to do. She wanted to make more decisions and prove she had control over her life and I was perfectly happy letting her do so. If she has a plan, and she's confident in it, then I'm grateful for that and so glad that at least one of us knows what we're doing."

Bathory chuckled lightly and checked the horizon again.

"So, we became more than just companions. And I love it. I love her. I'm happy and I know she's happy and now that the worst is over, I know we can do anything. And…and recently, I…I've been thinking about something. At first, it was just a small thought, something I could brush off, but recently it's become huge. It's something I just can't ignore. And it's something new, too. Something I never felt before. You know, on Siba, me and Kaisa… we loved each other, and we tried to spend every minute together, but it was always just about what happened right then and there. I never thought about what things would be like a month from then, or a year from then. I didn't care. I didn't."

He faced Arin again.

"But…but this is different. I want to come up with a plan, Arin. I want to know what we're going to do in a month. A year. Longer. Much longer. I…I want to be with her the rest of my life…"

Bathory quickly checked the door. Was Negati close? Could she hear? This was it – the question he was terrified to put in front of her. When he didn't see any movement, his eyes rapidly shot back down to the ground in front of him. His heart started to race. He was actually going to say it out loud, even if it was just to a friend.

"I…I want to ask her what she thinks about getting married."

His eyes closed tightly. He tensed up. He braced himself for whatever answer was going to come. Seconds went by in a slow haze, with Bathory completely frozen. But he realized how quiet things were and his friend's response started taking too long. Bathory loosened up, barely. His muscles relaxed a bit, and he cautiously raised his head and opened one eye to look over at the other mage. Arin was just staring at him.

"You want to ask her to marry you?" he replied.

Bathory sat up quickly before turning to face Arin directly.

"I…no, no, just…just what she'd think about it."

"So you want to ask her what she thinks about your relationship eventually leading to marriage one day."

Bathory scratched his head nervously.

"I…I mean…"

"Yes, one possibility of a romantic relationship is marriage, Bathory. It would be wise to ask if she believes all your pursuits in this venture will lead to marriage and not simply to more dating."

"I…okay, well when you put it that way…"

"Yes, Bathory. I do believe you should ask her the question. I am surprised you are having trouble with this, as I think it would be an easy question."

Bathory laughed again, and this time tilted his head back to stare straight up above him.

"If it's so easy, then why is it so hard…"

Aphelion started to pulse with light again.

[NEGATI IS APPROACHING, MY MASTER]

"Okay" said Bathory. "Here, I'll try and ask her tonight. But don't say anything, Arin. I want to do this on my terms."

He stood up as Negati opened the door and stepped outside. She had freshened up and changed clothes into something more stylish and less casual than she came home in.

"Wow, look at you" said Bathory. "You think I should wear something else?"

Negati shook her head.

"You look fine. You look smart."

She headed to their car. Bathory remained on the porch for a moment, turning to wave at Arin.

"Bye Arin. You're holding down the fort. Good luck."

Arin simply nodded and Bathory went over to the car as well. As the two mages got in it and drove off, Arin stood up and went inside. He should have gotten back to dinner, but something distracted him. It was the same thing as before – the disparity. He took a sharp turn into his room and sat down on the bed, taking the standby form of his device from his desk and holding it. It was a dark grey gem, taller than it was wide, and almost looked like a true crystal might – the two ends of the long body raised up on all sides into semi-sharp points. Retrigal was its name, and though Arin kept it in its standby form, he gripped it tightly and ran his thumb over the device.

He didn't want to do anything major. He didn't want his anger to spill out again. But he was fine sitting there silently, bringing it back and feeling the warm blood rush through his body again. It was comforting.

* * *

The white van pulled up the long driveway to another normal-looking house. With a final heavy jolt, the engine wound down and Vaele and Asana got out. Both of them walked silently up to the door and let themselves in. They were immediately blasted with cold air, like their air conditioning was running at full force. It was something more suitable to the hottest days of the year than a late spring afternoon.

"Izah?" asked Vaele. He knew exactly where his sister would be, but he still called out just in case. Asana mentioned that Izah was slowly clearing up again, so maybe she was about to get up and about again. The door to her room was shut, though, and Vaele walked over. He pushed the door open and revealed a dark room, with more light spilling through the open door now than was making it through the covered blinds on the window.

Inside, the room was a mess. Clothes were scattered all over the floor, and the floor was pretty much the only thing in there. A mattress rested on the ground, its bedframe long gone, and the only other things to note were two separate fans, standing up to face down at the mattress, also blasting at maximum speed. On the mattress, a woman laid on her side, curled up and staring at the wall.

"J…jeez…" she muttered. "Why is it so cold?"

Vaele sighed. He hoped his sister would be looking better than this. Part of why he drove out to the edge of town was to get away from having to be around this. He rolled his eyes and left the room to turn the air off as Izah's familiar reached for a blanket.

"You must have been trying to cool off, miss Izah. Is that the case?"

Izah sat up groggily. She wasn't quite back to feeling normal but it was far from how she could be.

"Yeah…" she said. "I was feeling really hot first."

"You know that the pills will do that, miss Izah."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know."

Izah stood up. She was in her mid-twenties, and she had extremely light orange hair – almost and orange-cream type color. She looked somewhat frail, and in her right hand, she was still holding onto something she'd been gripping tightly for the past couple hours. It was a small, nondescript bottle with several small pills inside it. As Asana wrapped the blanket around Izah, the mage opened her hand and let the bottle drop down onto the floor.

"Hopefully you will warm up now" said Asana. She held a smile while Izah walked forward. "Vaele would like to speak with you, I believe."

Izah shambled out of her room like a ghost and looked around. Though her own room was a mess, the living room looked much more orderly due to the maintenance kept up by her brother and familiar. Vaele was sitting on the end of the couch, holding a dark blue gem that was left on the endtable next to him.

Asana clapped her hands together. She perked up slightly, and her ears rose to stand straight.

"Shall I make you something to eat, miss Izah?"

Izah smiled lightly. Some food sounded good. She hadn't really been thinking of her stomach while she was affected. Her brain was starting to catch up to her body, and her stomach grumbled.

"Yes, Asana, that sounds good."

She walked over to her brother, still with the blanket wrapped around her. Asana went to the kitchen as Izah sat on the couch next to Vaele. She looked over at the younger mage, who was still looking intently at the blue gem.

"Hey, Vaele, what are you doing with my device?" she asked.

Vaele didn't look at her. He had a hard time doing that.

"I want to go to the training session tomorrow. The TSAB's got a free one."

Izah smiled again.

"Okay, if it makes you happy-"

"And I want to take Greater Call with me."

Izah froze. Greater Call was her device, custom-built for her back on their home planet once she began to excel in her magic ability. She was very protective of it.

She smiled again but it seemed more forced.

"But Vaele, Greater Call is my device."

"I know."

"But don't you have your own device?"

Vaele responded a bit louder and angrier than he had intended.

"It's crap, Izah! It won't even shoot straight."

"But you told me you fixed it?"

"I thought I did! But no, it still sucks!"

"Vaele!" shouted Asana from the kitchen. "Do not raise your voice, especially with your sister."

Vaele rolled his eyes again, but he calmed down and finally looked at Izah.

"Please. I don't want to embarrass myself. I…I want to be a powerful mage too…"

Izah gave Vaele another tired smile and put her arm around his shoulders.

"I'm sure you're already one..." she said.

"Yeah, but I've got no way to show it"

He looked down at the device again. He knew it could hear the conversation, but it stayed quiet per Izah's orders. She didn't want it talking most of the time, and with her extended absence from anything that required her to activate it, it was silent most of the time.

"Izah, you gave me guest access, right?"

Izah had to think for a second, but she remembered and nodded.

"Right, in an emergency, I think that you can-"

Vaele looked forward and stuck his hand out. The device was centered in his palm.

"Greater Call, activate!"

The device glowed pure white and started to transform in Vaele's hand. It also formed into a pistol shape, though meant for a hand a little bigger than his. Greater Call ended as a much sleeker-looking version of Vaele's current hobbled-together weapon. It was mostly dark blue, with a bright green outline around the silhouette of the pistol on both sides. It was like a path for energy to flow to show that it was connected with its user.

As Vaele turned his hand to look at the weapon from different angles, it finally spoke up.

[MY BASIC FUNCTIONS ARE ALLOWED UNDER A GUEST ACCOUNT – HOWEVER, I AM NOT ABLE TO ACTIVATE MY ADVANCED SPELLS WITH YOUR LOWERED SYNCHRONIZATION]

"That's fine" said Vaele. "I just want to shoot straight."

Izah slowly reached out and took her device from her brother.

"Well, you know I'm just not comfortable with it being away from me."

She held the device in her own hand, and just like that she felt a little better. Grinning, she spun it rapidly by the trigger guard around her finger, grabbing it again by the grip. Even when she was out of practice, a lot of things came back easily to her. Izah deactivated the device and put it in her pocket as Vaele responded.

"Then how about you go with me? Come on Izah, you've barely gotten out recently. I'd really like it."

Izah sighed. She stopped smiling and looked away.

"You know I can't do that."

Vaele started to get annoyed again. His eyes shot over to stare at Izah.

"Oh, right, what if you need another one of your pills? Wouldn't want to look like an addict, would you?"

Izah brushed her hair to the side and looked at her brother.

"Vaele…"

"We can't do any of that, can we? It's so much better to just stay here then, right? Give in once again and waste another day of our lives!"

Asana rushed over.

"Vaele!" she shouted.

The boy stood up. He spun to face Asana and kept going.

"She is your master, right Asana? Doesn't this piss you off at all? Am I the only one who's worried about her?"

"You do NOT talk to Miss Izah with that voice!" Asana yelled.

Vaele reached his limit. He held both arms up to the ceiling, shut his eyes, and cried out.

"AAAAHHH, I CANNOT WIN! I cannot win with you two!"

Furious, he stormed away from the other two and over to his room.

"Fine, I'll go alone" he said. "Now don't come and bug me."

He slammed the door behind him and all Izah and Asana could hear were more angry footsteps and then a bed rustling as Vaele fell onto it. The two women looked at each other, both looking a little guilty. They knew they both contributed to that outburst. Asana heard a timer go off in the kitchen and she raced to the stove. There wasn't much to eat at the Lumiere household, but Asana had found some noodles and she had been boiling them for Izah. She turned off the heat and drained them into a bowl before adding some sauce for flavor and bringing it over to Izah. She handed Izah the bowl, and the mage took it.

Izah checked the door to Vaele's room. She lingered on it for a while, and then finally looked away and began to eat.

* * *

The sun had set, and Negati and Bathory were heading back home. She was driving. The car ride had quieted down, and Bathory thought about what he had been meaning to ask Negati. Would this be the best time? Should he wait until later? Should he even do it tonight?

Yes. He should. He said he was going to ask. Arin was definitely going to check the next time the two of them were alone. So, with a deep breath, he started.

"Negati?"

The redhead looked slightly in his direction.

"Hmm?"

"I…umm…"

Like usual the words were obvious in his head but seemed like they'd come out all wrong. The longer he paused, the less he felt he was ready to ask.

"I…I was…well, I was thinking…"

Negati laughed.

"Come on Bathory, what?"

"I…"

He was getting more and more self-conscious. By this point, he was sure he'd stalled so long that it wouldn't leave a good impression. No, no, he couldn't. He couldn't do it now. He shook his head.

"Ahh, nothing. Never mind."

Negati just shrugged. That behavior was slightly weird coming from Bathory, but it was no sense trying to pry out what he was getting at. An idea did come to mind, though – completely separate from what just happened, but something she wanted to do while they were over on this part of town.

"Bathory, you mind if we stay out a bit longer?"

The other mage looked at Negati and nodded.

"Sure, what are you thinking we-"

Negati slowed the car down and turned at an intersection. She drove into a different area than the two of them normally got to see of the city. They were on the outskirts of town, but headed in a different direction than the spaceport. This was driving out to the open countryside. Bathory watched as the buildings got sparser and less maintained, until Negati headed down a side road up to a certain point that ended right before a bridge.

She pulled to the side of the road, parked, and got out. Bathory did so as well.

"You know the main road that leads out of here?" asked Negati.

"Yeah, yeah" Bathory replied. "There's that river that runs by, kinda like the boundary to the city. And there's that tall bridge that goes over it."

"Right. Well, that might be the main road but it isn't the only one. Come check this out."

The two mages walked towards the bridge and stepped out onto it. It was a long, two-lane driving bridge that connected two sides of land high above a river that was calmly shimmering below. Bathory walked over to the railing and looked out at the view in front of him. It was a cloudless night, and the lights from other stars fell down to Nemelendelle and painted the sky. He put his hands on the railing and leaned forward.

"Whooooaaaa…"

Then, his eyes slowly drifted down until he was leaning over the rail and staring down at the large drop into the river. His stomach tightened and he felt his whole body recoil and grab tightly to the railing.

"Whoa ho ho, no!" he said, pushing himself away from the rail. Negati caught him and giggled.

"I didn't think you got vertigo" she said. "Don't you love jumping off really tall stuff?"

"Only when I have something to grab onto" he replied, holding up Aphelion again. He rubbed the gem with his thumb.

"Well, we're apparently in luck" said Negati. "Because there's something down there I want to check out, and I've heard there's a path down by our side of the gap."

Bathory looked over at Negati, curiously. She was heading back to the end of the bridge and Bathory followed. Sure enough, where the bridge met the land, there was a bit more area to the left and right on the specific section of rock the bridge was connected to. On the right side, at the face of the rock, there was a narrow path leading down to the river, sidewinding back and forth down on uneven ground. Both mages always had to make sure they were holding onto the wall, but eventually they reached the bottom. On the sides of the river were collections of rocks, or soil, or other materials carried and deposited. However, next to the path down here was an area that looked so much better than the others. Millenias of endless flow by the river had dropped off sand and other small rocks by the waterside to form a small beach.

Bathory's face lit up.

"Hah, I didn't expect to see this!"

They two stepped onto the beach and looked around the area.

"This certainly wouldn't be a place to throw a party" said Negati. The area was just right for a few people but would start getting overfilled after that.

Bathory took his shoes off and stepped went over to the waterline. He wanted to see how far out the sand went. He just took little steps forwards as the sand lowered further and soon he was almost up to his knees. He paused, took this point as a kind of measurement, and took another step.

There was nothing under him and he toppled forward. With a loud cry he fell face first toward the water and splashed into the river.

Negati ran over to help him.

"Bathory, what happened?" she asked.

Bathory swam over to the side and pulled himself up.

"I fell in. It kinda just drops out on you."

He stood up, and he had an idea for a little bit of harmless fun.

"Negati, you want to jump in too?"

Negati crossed her arms and looked away.

"Maybe, I don't know."

Bathory ran up and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He lifted Negati up and she cried out, surprised. Bathory quickly headed back for the water.

"Looks like you're going in now!"

He reached the end of the riverbank and dove forward, tossing himself and Negati into the river. She shrieked in surprise and then shut her eyes tightly as they both sunk into the water. Bathory released her, and Negati looked around. As it was night, they could barely see anything past the light that came in from above. There wasn't much of a current, though, so when they both swam up to the surface they were in about the same place they were before.

Negati went to part her wet hair out of her eyes. Next to her, Bathory was smiling widely.

"Well, how did you like that?"

Negati turned and starting splashing water at Bathory's face. The other mage covered himself when he could and tossed a few waves at Negati. Both of them were laughing. Soon, they both swam over to shore and got up onto the beach, panting lightly.

They sat down next to each other, facing the river. They rested like that for a bit, but right before Bathory was about to speak, Negati pushed him onto his back and rolled over on top of him. Her hands and knees kept him pinned in place and she leaned in until the ends of her hair dropped onto her boyfriend and rested there. Her eyes stared down at Bathory, forcing him to look into them.

"Bathory, what were you thinking?" she asked.

He couldn't look away. He also couldn't make an intelligible answer.

"Huh?"

"My clothes are all wet, my hair is all wet, and now I'm gonna get sand everywhere."

Bathory put on a silly grin.

"I thought it would be fun."

Negati smiled and leaned in further.

"And I guess it was."

They kissed again. They held it longer, and Bathory brought has hands up to her sides. One of them slowly traced itself down her body until it reached her skirt, then hooked a thumb underneath and started to pull further. Negati quickly reached up and pushed Bathory's hand away before leaning back.

"No, Bathory, let's get home first. Remember what we're doing for that training tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah, the mock battle."

"I'd rather be up bright and early for that, so I'd rather not have to, you know, still get up to the car and still get home and deal with laundry…Let's get all that out of the way first."

Bathory nodded. That sounded good.

"Well, Negati?"

She kept looking at him but turned her head slightly.

"Hmm?"

Bathory had another chance. Another chance to wrap the night up perfectly and get the question off his chest. This was the best chance. The sight before him was amazing. The stars above were like a halo around Negati's face. If only she knew the view he had. He started.

"I…umm…"

But something still got in the way. This moment was perfect, but what would it lead to? She might respond well, but there was always that chance that this would lead the complete other direction. The beginning of the end. The moment that twisted everything around. And he couldn't do that now. He couldn't even offer the possibility. He could not offer up the words. Instead, he just shook his head.

"Hah, nothing, I guess. I forgot what I was going to say."

Negati laughed, and she rolled off of him.

"You're being silly tonight, Bathory, you know that?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe…"

He tried to force his disappointment to go away. It was tough, and a small flicker of it remained in his gut.

"Maybe we can just stay like this a little longer."

Negati agreed.

"At least until we feel okay to climbing back up those stupid rocks!" she yelled.

They both laughed and they clasped their hands tightly together. Up above, the silent bridge cast a long shadow over the landscape below it.


	3. Ever-Branching Paths Part 1

**A/N:** Continuing the references, Greater Call is a reference to a song from Cult of Luna's 2016 album Mariner. A character introduced in this chapter is also a reference to a Mars Volta song, though with one part of the name changed so as not to sound too close to a canon character's name. Also, this is the chapter that I described as 'now-you-don't-have-to-read-my-previous-two-stories dot txt'. While Raze the Stray is very directly summarized, once again I recommend that if you want to, still read Raise the Dawn because a lot of what happened in that could not be so easily distilled. But what you need to know plot-wise is here. This chapter and the next one are titled after the Circle Takes The Square song 'Way of Ever-Branching Paths'.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Ever-Branching Paths (Part 1)**

* * *

Vaele had barely spoken with Asana or Izah since the previous night. Most of the day he had been in his room, tinkering with his device, trying to make it better for the training session he was taking it to. He was running out of time, though. The session ran for only a few hours, and he was already very late trying to fix his weapon. He needed to get going soon if he wanted to be there at all. With a sigh, he put the device in its standby form and put it in his pocket. He walked out to the living room. Izah was laying on the couch, possibly asleep, and Asana was in her animal form, curled up on a chair. Vaele coughed once to get their attention.

"I'm going now." He said.

Izah slowly stirred. She hadn't been asleep.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Vaele sighed.

"The training session, Izah. Come on, I told you."

Izah remembered and nodded.

"Oh, okay. Have fun. You fix your device?"

Vaele pulled it back out of his pocket.

"No, I don't think I did."

He could imagine the outcome with his current device – a hundred missed shots for every one that accidentally hit its mark. Everyone would probably laugh. He would just be an embarrassment. Maybe he just shouldn't go. Or maybe…

He looked up, determined. He quickly headed over to the table where Izah's device still lay.

"You know what?" he said. "I'm taking Greater Call."

As he passed by Izah, she looked up at him and reached out. Vaele just brushed her off, grabbed the dark blue gem and went for the front door.

"You're not doing anything with it" he continued. "I'd rather put it to actual use."

He reached for the door. Izah suddenly found energy that had long since seemed dormant, jumped to her feet, and dashed over to Vaele. The boy heard his name and swung around to see his sister bearing down on him, then crashing into him and pinning him up to the door. It was quite a surprise, and he stood there like a deer in headlights.

"Vaele, Vaele, you can't do that" Izah said, forcefully prying Greater Call out of her brother's hand. As soon as she had it, she hugged Vaele tightly, as if that would make anything better. She lightly patted him on the back, all while her brother's eyes were open wide. Asana had looked up at the noise and was staring at the scene.

"You can't take him. You know that. Don't make me exert myself. You know that makes them wear off faster. And then I start to feel really bad, and we don't want that."

Quietly, Vaele responded.

"You don't have to take them, Izah. You can…you can stop, can't you? You can get through whatever happens, right? You're strong enough, right?"

Her sister closed her eyes and went silent. Vaele felt her shake, just a little bit, and she inhaled sharply. Was she…was she almost crying?

"Tell me how it went" she whispered and broke off. After that, she shambled over to the couch again, returning to how she was before her sudden burst of energy. She was more awake than Vaele thought. His heart was still racing some from the initial shock, but it began to slow down. He opened the door and walked solemnly over to the van then got in the driver's seat. Turning the keys, the engine seemed to kick him up into the air once again, but it kept chugging and Vaele drove away from the house.

* * *

Negati, Bathory, and Arin got out from the car and looked at the training facility included with the main TSAB building. From its size, the three knew what to expect. It would have some areas for close-range strike combat and also an open zone where pieces of a battlefield could be constructed to make different arenas. This type of layout was standard for most indoor training areas found on most planets. Outdoor areas with similar technology were reserved for planets with significant bureau activity and needs such as Midchilda.

Around them, several people were heading to the automatic doors. The three followed suit and entered the facility, watching groups of younger mages gathering around in different parts of the room, usually under the supervision of a parent or member of the bureau. The holographic simulation area was divided up into a firing range, with targets phasing in behind a waist-high dividing wall, and a constructed close-quarters battleground for other mages to practice versus each other. On the back wall, there were a couple racks of mass-produced devices in their standby forms, offered for the day if one was needed. Most of the attendees were younger, and their interests were split between seeing what the TSAB offered in their facility, testing out their developing powers and new spells, or just having some fun.

Negati had been looking around for a specific person to meet. Finally, she spotted the person near the other side of the room, speaking with some other members of the bureau in uniform. This was another woman, with long purple hair tied high then left to fall in several thick, wavy sections down to the bottom of her back.

Captain Eratarka, recent transfer to the Nemelendelle TSAB. Negati told Bathory to come along and the two began to walk over to the other mage. Behind them, Arin called out.

"Excuse me, what shall I do during this time?"

The other two stopped and looked back. Negati looked around a bit and answered him.

"Walk around, check everything out, maybe help out if needed."

Arin nodded, and the two resumed their trip. As they got close, Eratarka finished her previous conversation and looked over at the two. She settled on Negati and held her hand out.

"Hello there, First Lieutenant Winter, correct?"

Negati shook her hand and nodded. Then, Eratarka faced the other mage.

"And so you must be…"

"Master Sergeant Bathory Kardenis" replied Bathory. He shook her hand too and bowed slightly.

"Captain, do you like what you see?" asked Negati.

"Yes, yes, I do" said Eratarka, looking around. "It's very functional. Very committed. Another planet may not be able to run so many events with such little hassle. And I love the attitude of every mage I have spoken too."

"We do the best we can to show the best side of the TSAB" said Negati, smiling brightly. "Many people who come here are unsure if the TSAB can deliver on what they might have promised. Nemelendelle should be a place for anyone if they wish for a new start."

Eratarka laughed lightly.

"Well, I am not here for a new start. I'm mainly here to fill an opening. With a promotion came a new position."

"Congratulations," said Bathory.

"Thank you. As I mentioned, I like what I see, and I hope I don't stumble too much while I get integrated."

"You will do fine" said Negati. "And we're ready to assist if you need us to."

Eratarka affirmed Negati and nodded. Once formalities were over, she changed her line of questioning.

"By the way, First Lieutenant, I noticed from your profile you come from a planet 'Siba', number…umm…"

"Number 84" said Negati.

"Yes, right. I noticed that most of your career in the bureau was on that planet. You had a minor infraction – a very small mark – I mean, your only punishment was a limiter that came off almost as soon as it came on. Was that truly the only reason to leave that planet and move here?"

Negati tried to speak, but couldn't exactly find the right words. She and Bathory shared a look and she laughed nervously before starting again.

"There is a lot more to that story, Captain. Mainly, I followed along with Bathory when he was sent here."

Eratarka looked at the other mage, and Bathory had already started to prepare himself.

"If you have seen my file, I know you must have a lot of questions, Captain" he said.

Eratarka focused in. She did, in fact, have a few things to clarify.

"Your history with the bureau seems to start with your stay on this planet, but that cannot be right."

"Correct. I was also a member of the Siban TSAB. However, I chose not to transfer my military records over when reapplying to the bureau. I…I knew…"

Bathory looked away. It seemed like he was struggling to find the right words again.

"I knew there would be false marks on my record that would just raise more questions than answers."

Bathory sighed, and Negati held his arm. Eratarka also sighed, though for a different reason.

"Master Sergeant, if you will be under my command, I would like to know why."

Bathory faced Eratarka again.

"Captain…"

"I don't want to seem like I am prying. But if you truly chose to abandon almost a decade of military records, I would like to hear the reasons from you, rather than from somebody you fear might be spinning the truth."

Bathory let this process in his head. The whole picture was a big picture, and events from those troubling times still presented themselves to him occasionally. But he knew he was getting better at dealing with it. Each day that passed truly was a day further set from what happened on Siba and Midchilda. If he could present it on his terms, maybe he could own it a little more and gain a little more control of his memories.

He looked back at Eratarka.

"Of course, Captain."

* * *

Vaele finally arrived at the complex and parked the van as close as he could get. He stepped out and headed towards the doors, fidgeting with the plain brown card in his pocket.

The doors opened up and he stepped inside. He noticed the layout and he also noticed how almost everyone had found themselves in some kind of group. Even if they didn't come here together, a lot of the young mages here to train had bundled up to support one another in the various activities. Vaele didn't really want to find a group. He just wanted to test, alone, and he wanted to get things over with quietly if the results weren't going to be good.

He saw the constructed range and headed over. There was a group of kids there, turning around and talking to each other when it wasn't their turn to go. Some of the kids were distracting an older teenager dressed in a ground forces uniform. Next to the range, there was a tall man with short hair just leaning against the wall and watching the festivities. He wasn't getting in line, though, so Vaele walked up and took the last spot. Things proceed quickly enough, as someone would get up to the front and targets would phase in at specific points behind the firing box. Whoever was up would activate their ranged weapon, whether it was a staff, or gun-type weapon, or other type. They would get a bit of time to use their powers as the targets did different routines, and at the end the results of their session would appear in front of them.

The line moved forward, and eventually Vaele was up front. He held his hand up and activated the device. It transformed in his hand and he held it with both hands to steady it for the tests. There was a countdown, and then the targets appeared in front of him. He aimed his pistol and fired, but the shot flew in between the targets. He fired again, several times in quick succession, and each shot had a different trajectory but the same outcome. His bullets all drove either into the floor or into the barriers that protected the walls of the range.

Halfway through, the targets started to move. For anyone else, this would be an exercise in leading their shots, but for Vaele it was just another barrier to actually making something connect. He fired ineffectively, trying to guess where the bullets would go but often watching them soar into the barriers, whether they missed by just a little or by a lot. As the clock wound down, Vaele picked the closest target and gave one more shot. The bullet whizzed to the right of the target, but surprisingly, it just caught the edge of a target that was moving behind it. A single sound rang out telling Vaele of his successful hit.

Time ran out, and the targets phased back out again. The results screen popped up, showing the boy that he had landed one shot out of many and displaying a horrendous accuracy underneath the other numbers. Vaele expressed his displeasure vocally, but looked back to see that the other mages were in their little group and didn't really notice his score. As he walked to the end of the line, he was almost grateful that nobody seemed to care about him. He'd rather be alone in that case.

Leaning up against the wall, Arin had kept his eyes on the boy as Vaele was standing there, pouting to himself. The taller mage walked over.

"It appears your device is not functioning correctly."

Vaele looked up at Arin and grimaced.

"Oh, really, thanks for telling me."

He faced the line in front of him again as Arin continued.

"A bureau-approved device may suit you better in your endeavors."

"Sure. Whatever. How do I get one of those?"

"You could apply for recruitment in the Nemelendelle Bureau's forces."

Vaele sighed. He wasn't even supposed to be on this planet for so long. And besides, he had more important things to deal with, like his sister and her problem – a problem that would probably come to light if he joined up.

"Nah, not an option. What else?"

"An approved civilian-grade device may also be suited to your needs."

"We can't afford anything. You think I can go out and afford that?"

Arin stared plainly at the boy.

"Then there is no other way I can legally see you obtaining an approved device. However, for today's session, you may try such a device on these premises."

Vaele looked back at the wall behind him, seeing the racks of devices. As he was still at the back of the line, he left to go check the racks out. Lining them were a bunch of the same gems, no doubt all of them functioning the same as all the other lookalikes. They were grouped into their different types – Midchidan style and Belkan style and then the different common subtypes within those. Under the Midchildan devices, there were a lot of staffs but also some other common weapon shapes and a few support devices as well. Vaele picked one out that looked to also transform into a pistol. He gripped it tightly and activated it.

It transformed in his hand and was just what he thought it was – a pistol, like Greater Call and his own, only in a basic color scheme and without very many frills to it. Curious, Vaele walked back over to the range and resumed his place in line.

* * *

Negati, Bathory, and Captain Eratarka had moved to the back corner of the room, away from the activity going on around the room.

"So, Captain," asked Bathory, "what have you heard?"

"Nothing" replied Eratarka. "I have not sought your information on my own. I was hoping when we met we could discuss this very thing."

Bathory understood. He started to form the words in his mind to best explain. As a precaution, he looked over at Negati.

"Negati, I think I can tell her enough, but…"

"If you can't, then I can help" said Negati. "I can tell her for you."

Bathory smiled and looked back at the Captain.

"Okay. Well, I was also a member of the Siban TSAB. I was pushed to join early by my dad, who passed down his device to me when I was ready to use it."

Bathory held up his hand, and Eratarka saw the dark green gem that was held within it. It started to pulse as it introduced itself.

[HELLO, MY DESIGNATED NAME IS APHELION – I HAVE BEEN SERVING MY MASTER FOR THE PREVIOUS 4624 DAYS 10 HOURS AND 53 MINUTES – I AM SPECIALIZED IN CLOSE RANGE GROUND COMBAT AND MELEE SPELLS]

Bathory lowered his hand and continued.

"I had a good career as a mage in the Siba Capital Ground Forces Division. I was chosen for an elite response team – Breach Team 03, along with Arin Vesceron and…and another mage, Kaisa…"

Bathory felt himself losing the flow he was trying to keep. Negati was about to step up for Bathory but he made himself keep going.

"But that was until the incident, an incident where…where we discovered our team's Captain assisting in illegal activities. We confronted him and…he tried to use deadly force, and…and I had to use the same in self-defense."

He got quiet for a second again. Negati again wondered if she needed to help but Bathory got back on track.

"The events of that night were twisted by the leader of our planet's TSAB, General Parkensine, to look like an outright murder. I went on the run, desperate for Parkensine to go back on his word or for someone to prove that I was innocent. But he was adamant in his story, and our TSAB believed what he told them, so I had to keep running and keep running. Along the way, I even learned about what Parkensine did to my former teammates. They were fighting to clear my name, and Parkensine wouldn't allow that."

Bathory looked over at Arin, and Eratarka's gaze followed.

"Arin and Kaisa…they were changed. Destroyed. Parkensine tried to remove me from their minds, but he stripped out so much in the process that he only left shells of what they were. Kaisa…could barely function…and went on a suicide mission to retaliate against the General. Arin survived, but... he's just a ghost of his former self."

Bathory sighed again.

"After a year and a half, I ended up on the complete other side of the planet, in a city named Victamious, where Negati Winter was a Lieutenant for the TSAB."

Negati smiled when her name was mentioned.

"Around that time," said Bathory, "Parkensine got sick of me escaping his justice, so he attempted to bring in the best Enforcer the bureau had available, Fate Testarossa-Harlaown."

Eratarka's eyes shot open and she interrupted Bathory.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second, like, one of the three Aces of Midchilda?"

Bathory nodded.

"Correct. She was brought in, and she coordinated with Negati to capture me."

Negati got excited and butted in.

"She talked to me! Alone! It was the best moment of my life, well, up until then, and then afterwards until the next time we spoke, you know?"

Bathory smirked and continued his story.

"But somewhere along the line, she looked into my incident and figured out that I was telling the truth. I didn't commit the crime they said I had. And though my story almost ended then and there, Fate got me away from Siba and onto Midchilda."

Eratarka had taken that all in.

"I do see what you mean, Sergeant. There is the threat that your General may have tampered with your records."

"And also," said Bathory, "that isn't the end."

"Oh?" asked the Captain.

"No. If it was, Negati might still be on Siba. Or at least, we would not all be here together. The thing is, I was given a second chance by Midchilda and I almost blew it. Fate had forced the Siban TSAB to acquit me, and I was dead set on returning to my home and trying to return to how things were before. I mean, the thing about Siba…if you're in the TSAB, they make you very loyal. It was the only home I had ever known, and though it sounds so crazy after what they did to me, I was sure I could get back in their good graces and get back on with my life. But Parkensine fought to keep me out, and though Midchilda tried to help me, I pushed them all away."

He had to sigh again. The events on Midchilda were a little closer to the current day, so they hadn't had as much time to be understood and internalized. Negati had something to add, so when Bathory took a quick break, she jumped in.

"When Fate took Bathory away to Midchilda, I could have stopped her. I was ordered to stop her. But I also second guessed my order, much like Fate did hers, and because of my insubordination, Bathory was safe. The General's vitriol was soon focused on me, and living on Siba became a constant headache. With Bathory on Midchilda, one of Parkensine's orders was for a party to monitor him in person and I guess attempt to interfere with his process. My former partner and I applied to be that party – partly so I could take a break from Siba and partly so my partner could sabotage everything."

The two Siban mages chuckled again. Time could at least heal the sting of some of the crazier aspects.

"As Parkensine held off my return for longer, I got more and more desperate" said Bathory. "I fought off people I should have listened to. I hurt people who did nothing to deserve it. And in the end, I…"

It came back to him. He'd opened himself up and the scene came back vividly in a perfect recreation. The emotion. The situation. The pain. The desperation. He was alone in that room, hand on the trigger and the barrel to his own temple, begging for death. It was the only way to make up for everything he'd caused - The only way to make things right again. He was the only one who could stop himself.

In the present, he became weak. He never finished his sentence. He looked away, and tears welled up in his eyes. His voice became faint and it sounded strained.

"If…I was any stronger back then…I wouldn't be here…"

Negati moved in, turning Bathory towards her and holding him tightly. She held her hand up to his face and tried to reassure him.

"You're here now, okay Bathory? You're here, with me. You're alive, I'm alive, everybody's happy. You're on Nemelendelle, and we love you."

Bathory closed his eyes and lightly nodded. As he rubbed Negati's back, he took a deep breath and let it back out.

"Yeah" he said. "What was I thinking?"

Eratarka crossed her arms. She'd heard enough to understand.

"I can see what you would be worried about, then" she said. "I have no qualms with you ignoring your previous history in that case."

Negati turned to address her Captain.

"I'll finish the story up quickly, then. I helped make things worse when I really shouldn't have, and that's when I earned my infraction. Near the end, Bathory reached out to Arin and brought him off Siba as well. Collectively, we decided to leave Siba for good and spend some time away from Midchilda too. We chose Nemelendelle for Bathory's rehabilitation and, well, we've never left."

Bathory kept holding onto Negati and looked back at the other woman.

"I'm a different person, now. I don't believe in any of what Siba drilled into my head. I won't ever again do what I did on Midchilda. I wanted to start over on this planet, even if trashing my records was maybe a bit overkill."

He smiled and rubbed Negati's back. Eratarka also smiled.

"It's basically the unofficial motto of our program – it doesn't matter what you've done, but what you are going to do" she said. "And you didn't need to worry. You are, what, a double-A rank? And disciplined? You were easily going to rise back up in the bureau."

Bathory nodded.

"Thank you, Captain" he said.

"Alright," replied Eratarka, "we've been talking for a while. You two should probably get ready for your demonstration."

The other two agreed, and Eratarka left to go check on some of the other bureau members.


	4. Ever-Branching Paths Part 2

**Chapter 4 - Ever Branching Paths (Part 2)**

* * *

It was nearing the end of the event, but Vaele was able to get one more turn at the range. He stood, ready for it to activate again, and held up the bureau-sanctioned device he had just borrowed. The timer counted down again, and the stationary targets formed back into existence.

He closed one eye, focusing the other down the sights of his new weapon. With everything seemingly lined up, he pulled the trigger. A small burst of energy rocketed forward straight at the target he was aiming at and hit it right in the middle.

Vaele wasn't expecting it. His mouth opened a bit, and he let out a small burst of air with a sigh of relief. He aimed at the other targets, firing at them as well and always hitting them somewhere with his bullets. He smiled more and more as he picked up the pace, able to switch between targets quicker and quicker and still hitting his mark.

Then, the targets started to move again. Vaele took a deep breath and tried to align his shot. He picked one of them and fired, but the shot was a bit slower than he thought and the target had gotten out of the way. The ball of energy fizzled out against the barrier for the first time that session. It surprised him a little bit and he gritted his teeth, aiming back at the trajectory of the target and firing again. This time, he overcorrected and was a little early.

By this point, the event was definitely wrapping up and people were making their way over to the holo-grid area in preparation for the finale. Bathory and Negati were two of those people, and they stood a little bit behind the young boy at the firing range as his session continued. His attempt had caught their eye.

The targets continued moving, and Vaele knew he had to adapt. He thought about what he'd seen with the device he was using – how quickly it could generate a bullet and what the speed of the shot was. Several factors ran through his head that all needed to be added up. When he thought he had it down, he aimed in front of a target and fired again. The bullet raced out and perfectly hit it as it was passing by. The sound of a successful hit rang out again, and Vaele knew he had things figured out. Again, he swapped between targets, leading his shots well enough to intercept them and hearing the sound of a hit over and over again.

The simulation ended and the targets phased out. Vaele looked down at the weapon, joyfully surprised, as the results popped up again with impressive numbers.

"Wow," said Bathory.

Vaele heard him and spun around. He and Bathory made eye contact and Bathory nodded.

"That was really good," he said. The younger boy looked away. He didn't know anyone was watching and the compliment caught him off guard.

"Thanks," said Vaele.

With the event drawing to a close, everything that was constructed for the firing range or sparring arena phased back out and Captain Eratarka walked out in front of the crowd.

"Thank you everyone for coming out today," she said. "I am Captain Eratarka – and yes, you can just use my rank if you're in a rush – and I know I might be an unfamiliar face around here but it was very exciting getting to meet with you all. I am very impressed both by the service the bureau is offering to the public here and with the talent that I saw today."

She let the crowd talk among themselves for a bit before continuing.

"Now, as sort of a grand finale, I have invited two of our higher-ranking mages to participate in a little sparring match, to show you all what you may eventually be able to do. I'll let our fighters introduce themselves."

She looked at Bathory and Negati and motioned for them to come forward. They walked in front of the crowd and stood next to each other, looking out at the audience. Bathory went first.

"Hello there, I am Master Sergeant Bathory Kardenis. I am a double-A rank ground mage trained in the Modern Belkan style and this is my device, Aphelion."

He held his device up to show off the dark green gem.

[WELCOME, ALL] it said. Negati introduced herself next.

"And I am First Lieutenant Negati Winter. I am a double-A-minus ground mage using Modern Belkan too."

She held both her arms out in front of her and started to channel her mana. Red lines phased in from her hands, spreading in a pattern up her arms to her shoulders. The lines glowed as she pushed her magic through them. That elicited a response from some of the crowd, and Negati showed off for a couple more seconds.

Bathory held his device and looked over at his partner.

"You ready?" he asked. Negati nodded, and they both stepped back and acted at the same time.

"Aphelion, go!" yelled Bathory.

"Transform!" said Negati.

Both of their bodies glowed bright white until it was impossible to see a human shape underneath. The glow remained for several seconds as both of them summoned their barrier jackets and then began to recede again. Bathory wore a light gray, long-sleeved jacket with several stripes of color that started at his front at mid-chest level then extended diagonally down to end on his left side. Most of the stripes were a dark green, but the very bottom one was red instead. He had long pants that covered his legs completely and his shoes fit the same color scheme as his jacket, light gray with dark green highlights.

His device took the form of a pair of armguards that had a metallic grey color scheme with the same green highlights. The main guard on the right arm had several independently-calibrated firing ports on a rotatable ring, and on the the outer side of each guard there was a groove that was currently empty, but he could summon a blade of pure energy from it.

Negati also reappeared. She wore a short-sleeved jacket with a red and white color scheme, and on the very front of her jacket was a pattern that looked like stylized wings. The one on the right side of her jacket was also red, but the one on the left side was dark green. She had a red skirt that covered the top half of her legs and her shoes also had a red-and-white color scheme. Her arms still glowed with the energy rushing through her.

When the two of them were done, they first looked out at the crowd and the crowd reacted to the transformation. But then, they both spun to face each other, excited.

"How does it look? How does it look?" asked Bathory.

Eratarka faced both of them.

"How does what look?"

Negati held Bathory's left hand with her right hand while she pointed up at the pattern at her own jacket.

"See, now I made this one green because of him…"

Bathory pointed as well to his own jacket.

"And this one's red because of her!" he said.

Captain Eratarka's face fell into her hands and she groaned.

"Oh great, I can't wait for the family portraits..."

"Alright!" said Negati, releasing Bathory's hand so she could ball both hers up into fists. "Let's get this started!"

The two separated and ran into the arena as small buildings and obstacles started to construct themselves and rise up from the ground. They took different sides of the battlefield, out of each other's line of sight. Outside of the area, several screens popped up to show each part of the area as well as an overall top-down view. Eratarka held a microphone that projected over a speaker system, and she spoke to both fighters.

"Are we ready to begin?"

Both mages nodded and Eratarka saw that on the screens.

"Then I will begin the countdown. Three, two, one, go!"

A sound rang out to initiate the start of the battle. Bathory and Negati immediately ran for tactical positions. Bathory headed to the middle, and he hoped his partner would do the same. If he could get in range and set the tempo of the fight, he might be able to make a lot happen right at the start. He ran between a couple of the small structures and came out in a courtyard-like area in the very middle. It seemed like the layout of the battlefield had an open corridor down the middle of it with denser obstacles scattered on both sides.

Bathory thought he saw something moving to the left. He quickly twisted over and aimed Aphelion down the corridor, firing a couple shots from some of the firing ports on the weapon. If it was Negati he had seen, she had gotten into cover long before the shots got close. He looked around the immediate area, checking all directions. He didn't see any other movement though. Softly, he mumbled to himself.

"If you didn't come to meet me, then where did you go?"

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and to his left. He spun around, and heard a loud shout as Negati leapt off one of the buildings next to Bathory and was bearing down on him, holding her fist up to drive it down at her opponent. Bathory's eyes shot open wide, and he held his arm up in defense.

[PROTECTION] said Aphelion.

A green barrier, in the shape of the Belkan triangle, formed in front of Bathory. Negati slammed her fist into it, and though the barrier stayed up, Bathory slid backwards from the impact. Negati landed and immediately ran up to Bathory, ready to strike again. Bathory had to focus on his barrier, and though he was trying to back up to get out of Negati's melee range, his opponent kept him right in front of her. Finally, after a few more punches, Bathory dropped his barrier and jumped back as Negati tried to punch again. She missed, and Bathory was able to aim his device.

He smirked and fired a shot at Negati. She wasn't able to get her own defense up, and the shot hit her barrier jacket. She stumbled, and Bathory sent another burst of energy her way which hit her jacket again and made her drop to a knee. She looked up in time to see another volley coming and summoned her own barrier spell, which came out in the same triangular shape as Bathory's but red instead.

Out in the audience, Vaele had accidentally gotten a front-row seat. He wasn't much interested in the battle but the crowd was too packed for him to push through and leave. Everyone else was rooted in place, staring up at the screens with undivided attention. He only came here for the testing. Next to him was Captain Eratarka, who crossed her arms and muttered to herself.

"Now he has the upper hand. What will you do, Lieutenant?"

Negati held her barrier spell as Bathory fired several more times. Each time he hit her barrier, she winced and flinched back harder than before. Finally, Bathory paused, and he let the ports of his device spin around to cool off. He engaged in a little of that mandatory trash talk that came with a sparring match.

"I know you're tough, Negati. You can handle my basic attacks. But can you hold back something a little stronger?"

He looked at his device. "Aphelion, get me a Charged Multi-Shot."

[YES, MASTER]

The ports of Aphelion started spinning again, and all of them began to glow with the energy that was building up in them. Negati got back to her feet and readied herself for the attack.

"Bring it" she spat.

Bathory aimed Aphelion back at her and all the charges were ready to go. He yelled for his device to fire and it launched the larger burst of energy at Negati. In response, she turned to the side and held one arm out in front of her.

"Counter-Reaction!"

Another barrier appeared, though this one looked like a larger shape of solid red. The attack crashed into the middle of the field, and it seemed to collapse inwards slightly, forming cracks along the surface. The very middle point glowed brightly where it absorbed the magic. Negati gritted her teeth, but the force field remained intact and it seemed like the energy was condensing itself right in the middle. Negati pulled the arm back that was near the barrier and paused for a second.

"Return!" she cried and swung her arm forward again. The force field suddenly expanded again, launching a red ball of energy with the same magical power back at Bathory. His eyes widened and he covered his face with his arms again. A standard Protection spell came back up, but it barely held back the force of the attack and Bathory stumbled from the impact.

Negati turned again to face him, and she stuck both arms out in front of her with her palms open wide. Two small Belkan triangles formed in front of her hands and she launched a rapid volley of red energy out of both triangles. Bathory held back the constant assault but he knew he had to make her stop.

"Aphelion," he shouted, "Flight Driver!"

A green blade of energy formed in the groove at the base of his device. He ran forwards, leaning down and digging the blade into the floor of the arena. Once it was connected, Bathory was pulled forward, rocketing along the ground under Negati's attacks, leaving behind a glowing green trail where his device used its energy that faded away after a second or two. Negati cut off her attacks and raised another barrier in case Bathory was just intending to crash into it. Instead, Bathory used the momentum and somersaulted to his feet, pushing off the ground and leaping into the air. Flipping around, he called out to his device again.

"Aphelion, Razor form!"

[ACTIVATED]

The small blade of energy began to grow into several sharp spikes of energy that curved back, perfect for piercing into a barrier. Bathory twisted around in the air, letting torque drive the blades straight into Negati's barrier. The tips of them clashed against the defenses, and the two ground mages stared each other down in a deadlock. Now, it was Negati's turn to smirk.

"You know this is a bad place for you, Bathory" she said. Bathory was stuck against her barrier while she had both hands free. It should've been an easy outcome, but Bathory had other plans.

"Not if I can get through this" he replied. "Aphelion, cut it open!"

The energy blades glowed and then started to grind back and forth, sawing through the barrier. Negati stopped her attack to try and reinforce the shield which was quickly crumbling in front of her. Though she gave it all she had, Bathory's attack made it through and her barrier crumbled in a violent reaction, tossing her to the ground. Even as she was falling back, Bathory held his left hand up with his fingers open.

"Clamp Bind."

Two rings of energy formed around Negati and raced in, trapping her arms against her sides. She looked up at Bathory, and as he stared down at her, he clenched his fingers and the bindings tightened considerably. Negati gasped and she began to struggle.

"You…you'd go this far in a mock battle?"

"All's fair in love and war, Negati. We're putting on a show, and I want to give everyone a good one."

The audience was certainly treating this like it was a show. Most of the kids were staring up at the screens, mouths agape, wondering what twist or turn will come next. Negati slowly got up to her knees and back to her feet.

"Well…you should know…this is far from over!"

The patterns on her arms started to glow again as she struggled. Bathory could feel the status of his bindings and soon realized just how much stress they were taking. He took a step back and realized his partner was definitely not messing around anymore.

"W…wait, Negati, but this is still for fun, right?"

An angry roar came from behind Negati's gritted teeth. She bent down, trying to get some leverage on the bindings. As she pushed against them, she opened her mouth and let out the full extent of her war cry. She twisted again and the bindings snapped apart. Her arms shot out and they were now free. She immediately rushed towards Bathory, who was still stunned by her sudden determination. She swung her fist and socked him in the face, tossing him to the side. On instinct, Bathory transformed Aphelion back into standard mode and sent a couple weak shots her way in case she rushed back in. Instead, Negati bolted away into the buildings next to the clearing, and Bathory was alone.

He slowly got back to his feet. He felt like he had been hit by a train, and he nursed the side of his face that Negati had clobbered him in.

"Alright…so that's what the stakes are…no holds barred. No holding back for either of us."

Bathory called out to the arena, knowing Negati could hear him.

"You think you can run? I can draw you out. I cut down your barrier, so you can't defend. One shot…one shot and this will be over."

He looked down at his device.

"Aphelion, let's show off everything your standard form can do. Load up the homing shots to an Omega Burst."

Back in the crowd, Eratarka shifted her weight onto her other leg.

"Omega Burst?" she asked.

Since the battle started, Arin had been standing nearby. He hadn't made himself known, but he turned to the Captain and answered her question.

"Bathory will first send out homing shots to draw the target out of hiding. Once they are in the open, he will attack with a powerful blast of energy. The hope is that they are unprepared for one or the other."

Eratarka nodded lightly.

"If Negati doesn't expect it, this could be a quick victory for her opponent."

The firing ports on Aphelion were glowing again with the energy contained in them.

"Aphelion," said its master, "keep firing homing rounds until I tell you to switch. We need to run Negati down."

[AFFIRMATIVE – I WILL FOLLOW MY MASTER'S ORDERS]

"Good. Then send out volley one!"

Bathory held his right arm up and Aphelion launched several shots toward the ceiling. Then, they all turned and split off before detecting the signature of Bathory's opponent. He didn't have to move at all. He just waited until the shots seemed to zero in, and as they disappeared behind the front row of obstacles, he heard a surprised cry. There was an explosion, and Negati dove out from behind a building. Getting back to her feet, she outran another pellet and got behind a wall as the pellet crashed into it.

"Another volley, go!" said Bathory. Aphelion did the same thing as before, launching several shots into the air before they all focused in on Negati. Their staggered trajectories always meant Negati had something to watch out for, and Bathory could simply hear the results as each bullet came down with an explosion and there was some grunt or cry heard from Negati. As the second wave neared its end, Bathory called out to his device again.

"One more, Aphelion. Then, set up the final shot."

Aphelion released another volley, and then Bathory brought the device down as all the firing ports began to spin and glow again brightly. He put more energy into this shot than any of his previous attacks. His body felt the strain and his linker core tingled with the production it was creating. This would definitely drain him somewhat, so he needed to be accurate with the shot.

Negati dodged the third wave, until the last bullet almost caught up to her in an alleyway and she dove out of its path, ending up in front of Bathory in the main corridor. She got back to her feet and looked at her opponent.

"This is it, Negati" said Bathory. He was almost ready to fire, but Negati quickly summoned her magic and thrust her arm out at Bathory.

"No you don't!" she yelled.

Red physical lines of magic shot out of the pattern on her arm, racing towards her opponent and wrapping themselves around him, binding his arms tightly. Bathory was caught off guard, and his eyes shot open wide.

"Wait, wait, Negati, you-"

The other ground mage smirked and pulled her arm back. The bindings quickly retracted, pulling Bathory along with them. He was carried over so fast that he was lifted up off the ground and his legs dangled behind him. He cried out in surprise the entire way back. With her other hand, Negati was readying for another massive punch, and as Bathory came flying in she swung, driving her fist into the bottom part of his jaw in a massive uppercut. Her bindings receded as Bathory flew up into the air, getting a second or two of hang time before landing on his back.

His charged shot simply fizzled out. Bathory could hardly see or think straight. Everything seemed to be just a wash of colors and his mind spun from the attack. As he laid there, moaning to himself, Negati flicked her wrist and standard remote bindings pinned Bathory's arms again.

"Ohh, Negati…Negati, why?" he asked.

The redhead just shrugged.

"All's fair in love and war, right?"

She heard the sound that marked the end of the battle and celebrated her victory while the arena tore down its digital battleground. She released the bindings and helped Bathory get to his feet, receiving applause from the crowd for a battle well-fought. He had to lean on her for support as they made their way back out of the arena. He would need a couple minutes to get his bearings again.

* * *

The event had ended and people were clearing out. Arin had drifted over to the doors, expecting his other companions to head his way. Instead, they were still with Captain Eratarka near the arena. Bathory had mostly recovered, and though he still felt sore from the battle, he was able to stand on his own. He massaged his aching jaw.

"Seriously Negati, I'm telling you, I didn't see it coming."

"How? You know what I can do. How did you not think I was going to try and grab you?"

"I don't know. I was just assuming my attack would work."

Eratarka shook her head.

"Well, you can study the tapes later if you really want to."

Bathory and Negati looked at each other and laughed lightly.

Meanwhile, Vaele had made his way back to the device racks to return what he borrowed. He paused before he put it back though, and looked at the device again. It had worked so well, and it had given him such good results. He almost didn't want to part with it. He'd walk out of here right now with it if he could.

Suddenly, he had a thought. He looked back at the racks and noticed all the other devices that looked just like the one he was holding and functioned the same. This wasn't something irreplaceable. The TSAB might not even notice. Maybe they'd just think it got lost in the fray. Then, Vaele looked over at the automatic doors. Crowds of people were leaving. He wouldn't stand out when he left. All he had to do was not raise attention. Why not, he asked. Everything was in place. Why not just leave?

He checked to make sure nobody was watching him. There were a couple bureau officers nearby, but they were distracted talking with some of the attendants. Quickly, Vaele kept the device in his hand but put his hand in his pocket and headed for the doors. Like he expected, he blended right into the crowd. No one was saying anything. Nobody noticed anything. There was a guy standing by the door, the same guy that pointed him to the device racks in the first place, but even he was focusing on something else. Keep walking and don't stop, Vaele told himself. It was so easy. But when he reached the exit, it all went wrong.

There must have been something checking for security. Some invisible signal must have been searching for stolen tech passing through. Something was there, and as Vaele stepped through the doors, a loud alarm rang out across the open room. And though he was concealed among many, only one person froze in place as the color drained from his body.

The sound caught everyone's attention. Around Vaele, families looked in surprise around them, wondering what was going on. Inside, people's attention was drawn over to the door but it also wasn't obvious what happened. Bathory, Negati and Eratarka paused their conversation and looked over towards the noise but they didn't immediately register either.

There was one man, though, who quickly added up the facts. Arin looked over, and right by him was Vaele, frozen mid-step as he passed through the checkpoint. The boy noticed he was being watched, and he slowly looked over with a horrified expression at Arin. Their eyes locked, and they both stood there in silence as the alarm rang out.

Arin reached for his device and took a step forward.

"Are you-"

Vaele bolted. He threw the device he had tried to steal away in a panic and ran as fast as he could back to the van. Arin quickly followed and activated Retrigal. From the grey crystal, a long handle stretched out in both directions and several curved blades of grey energy formed at both ends in a radial pattern, spinning around two small crossbars. The blades revved up and spun faster as Arin gave chase. Bathory and Negati didn't see much, but they did see their friend take off running and they tried to catch up to him.

"Arin?" shouted Bathory. "Arin, what's going on?"

Vaele didn't even want to look back. He was too set on just escaping, putting one foot in front of the other while his mind raced as well with several thoughts. He wasn't a bad guy. He didn't mean anything by it. If he'd known, he'd never have tried to take the device! Oh, what would Izah do if he was caught? What would the TSAB do if he was caught?

By coincidence, he'd parked so the driver's side of the van was facing the building. He never locked the door as well so there was no time wasted as he swung the door open, jumped in, and shut it again. Now all he could hope for was that the car actually started. He put the key in and turned it. Arin was close behind, and he channeled his magic into his device, making one set of blades glow brightly. As he held the staff behind him and swung it around, it summoned several connected blades of energy that shot forward and spun through the air.

The engine tried to turn over and Vaele looked back out through the window. He saw a rapidly approaching projectile that soon slammed itself into the driver-side door. The door crumpled inward from the impact and the whole van rocked up onto two wheels for a moment. Vaele cried out, and as the van stabilized he looked back out the window to see more sharp blades of energy coming straight for his head. Arin held his device with one end pointed forward and thrust it through the window of the van. With another cry, Vaele ducked and the blades shattered the window and passed right above his body. Everything seemed like it went in slow motion and Vaele felt the glass hit his skin while the blades swung madly right above him.

Arin pulled Retrigal back and stuck his other arm through the broken window. Swiftly, he grabbed Vaele by the neck and pulled him out through the window, throwing the boy down onto the pavement. Vaele gasped again as a sharp wave of pain raced through him, and finally, Arin pointed his device down at the boy like a sword, keeping one set of blades inches from the younger mage's throat. All Vaele could do was look up, wide-eyed, still trying to process the sudden events. Arin stared down at him coldly. The two remained as they were as they both heard Negati and Bathory quickly approaching the scene.

"Arin!" Bathory yelled. "Arin, stop!"

Arin was not expecting Bathory to run up and try to pull Arin's device away from the boy's throat. The two struggled as Arin attempted to keep his weapon where it was.

"What are you doing?" asked Arin.

"Stopping you! What the hell are you doing?"

"I am apprehending a criminal. Are you going to get in my way?"

"Yes!" cried Bathory. "You got him, okay? You got him!"

Bathory won out, and he forced Arin's device away from Vaele. Another person came running up, and the three standing mages all turned around to see Captain Eratarka. She paused, and held up the standby form of the device Vaele had thrown away.

"I found this by the door" she said. "Is that what this is all about? Come on, help the boy off the ground."

Arin turned back towards Vaele.

"Get up," he demanded.

Bathory held back Arin just in case as Negati reached a hand out for Vaele to take.

"I'm sorry. We don't want to hurt you," she said.

Vaele was hesitant considering what just happened. Slowly, he took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. The four mages looked back at the Captain as she looked down at the device.

"Attempted petty theft…" she mumbled. Then, like a switch was turned on her eyes shot up to glare at Arin and she began to yell.

"Versus property damage, reckless endangerment, and probably mental scarring for life! What makes you think you can act like that?"

"Yeah, Arin" said Bathory. "Where did this come from? What are you trying to do?"

Arin felt like he was being ganged up on. Eratarka glared at him, and even his two friends were both looking at him in a mix of confusion and anger. His eyebrows lowered, and his anger started to show again.

"I am surprised you would all act so hypocritical with regard to my actions."

"How?" asked Bathory. "How are we hypocrites?"

"You are condemning me for stopping a crime in progress."

"But you went so much further than you needed to. You were so much more violent than you had to be."

Arin leaned in and pointed at Bathory as he yelled.

"Bathory, you know that's what we were trained to do in the Siban TSAB!"

Arin's response stunned Bathory. The mention of their old home planet vanquished any response he was preparing. Lowering his voice again, Bathory shook his head slightly.

"Arin…look around you. We're not on Siba anymore."

Arin also lowered the volume, though he kept staring daggers at the other man.

"So what?"

Bathory stood there, silent. His eyes stared back, though the anger died out and was replaced by saddened confusion. Finally, he made himself move, pacing around and holding his hands up against his head.

"Arin…Arin, holy shit..."

He returned to his old teammate and put his hands on Arin's shoulders.

"Do you…do you remember what happened with me on Midchilda? Do you remember any of the lessons that I had to learn?"

Arin didn't respond. He just kept glaring as Bathory tried to rationalize his friend's behavior to himself.

"No, no, I get it. You never had a moment like this. You basically came straight from Siba over to here and you've lived quietly since. You…you never had a moment to practice anything else…"

Again, he went silent. Finally, after a couple seconds, Eratarka looked at Vaele.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" she asked.

Vaele was surprised. He had seemed to fade away from attention, and he didn't expect to be addressed.

"I…y-yeah."

"You want to press charges?"

The other three mages looked at Vaele. He saw every set of eyes on him and once again fumbled out his words.

"N…No, no, not really."

Eratarka sighed.

"Then you're free to go."

Vaele stared up at the Captain. Even he couldn't believe it.

"R…really?"

"Yeah. Compared to what just got put on my plate, you'd be nothing to deal with. You want one of our devices? Join the bureau. I saw you at the range – you'd find a spot, no problem. But I know your face now, so try not to get in trouble again."

Vaele looked around nervously like this was all a trap.

"Oh. Uh…okay. Thanks."

Still shaken, he turned back to the van and tried to open the door. However, whatever energy Arin had launched into the door meant it was now jammed closed. Vaele pulled hard on the handle, but the door wouldn't budge. Defeated, he had to walk all the way around and get in on the passenger side, scooting over to the driver seat. He brushed some broken glass off the seat and tried to deal with the caved-in door next to him. The van started up this time, and with a clunky roar of the engine, it drove off the lot.

Arin watched the van leave. Then, he looked back at Eratarka. Her arms were crossed and she looked very serious.

"I am not impressed," she said.

Arin's anger had receded. He looked back, plain and expressionless.

"Hmm?"

"What kind of planet is Siba if it makes you think that kind of behavior is okay?"

Bathory stepped forward. Arin was still his friend, and though he learned a lot of new things in the last couple minutes, he still tried to defend the other man.

"Captain, Siba was a very insular place, as I'm sure you heard from my story. We knew that. Or at least, Negati and I did."

Negati stood next to her partner. Bathory quickly shared a glance with her before looking back at Arin.

"But now we've all learned about how to act instead. Arin learned his lesson, and he is deeply regretful, and this will never happen ever again."

Coldly, Arin cut Bathory off.

"Bathory, please do not speak for me. I have the capacity to do so for myself."

Annoyed, Bathory looked down and shook his head.

"Arin, I am throwing you a rope, could you please grab the end of it?"

Eratarka continued staring at the tall man. Finally, she walked towards him.

"Hold up your arm."

"What?" asked Negati. "Captain, what are –"

"Arin, is it? Please hold up your arm."

Arin did so without hesitation. Eratarka stood in front of Arin and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a piece of gear that looked sort of like a watch, wrapped it around Arin's wrist, and locked it in place.

"Captain, what are you doing?" asked Bathory. Arin seemed to take this rather well, and he just held up his arm to look at the device. Several lights began to glow on the surface of it. He pulled on it once, just to make sure it was locked on.

"Am I being arrested?" he asked.

"Not exactly, or rather, not yet" said Eratarka. "But if you want to avoid that, you will have to make up for what just happened. Don't worry about the device – it's simply to make sure I know where you are. Just so you don't try to cut and run, or in case it ends up in a ditch somewhere before you've done what I want you to do. It's not like a limiter. It won't do anything to you."

"What do you have in mind?" said Arin.

"Maybe just some task no one else is available to do. But I mean, this is Nemelendelle. It'll be community service, not some dangerous mission."

Eratarka chuckled to herself.

"I don't want to seem like I'm a hardass, really, but I have to respond when something like this happens. And if you do need to practice some of the main values of the TSAB, I see no better way of doing so. You're free to go home tonight – I will call you back to me with something tomorrow. Are we all good?"

Negati and Bathory had been silent almost this whole exchange. But with that last question, Negati stepped forward and addressed the other woman.

"Yes, thank you Captain."

Eratarka smiled, but there was a particular mage she was waiting on. Arin got the hint, and he bowed slightly.

"Yes, Captain, I understand."

"Alright. I need to get back to paperwork now that you've added more to it. We can convene tomorrow."

She turned, and saw that the entire time, there was an audience made up of some curious people leaving the event. She brushed them away as she went back to the building.

"Okay, show's over, move along!"

* * *

Izah, Asana, and Vaele all stood next to each other, staring at the damage that the van had acquired. After a brief moment, Izah chuckled and the other two looked over at her.

"Wow. That really sucks."

"Yeah," said her brother, "especially for me, since I actually use it."

Izah reached over and rubbed the top of her brother's head, making Vaele grimace.

"Well, I've always got your back" she said. "If I ever see the guy that did this to you, I'll blast him hard as I can with Greater Call, just for you. How about that?"

Vaele sighed. In the unlikely event that meeting happened, he'd be okay with her doing so.


	5. The Bird in the Cage Part 1

_remember when we used to be vibrant?_  
 _breathing air for the very first time?_  
 _now the windows are barred_  
 _no frame could contain nature_  
 _obsessed with all the wrong things_  
 _time to sharpen our focus_

 _"A cage went in search of a bird"_  
 _– it's all it ever knew_

Locktender - _Aphorism #16_

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - The Bird in the Cage Part 1**

* * *

It was a quiet evening, night, and morning at Bathory, Negati, and Arin's place. Literally. None of them really wanted to speak, for fear of opening up an argument stemming from the events that happened earlier. Bathory didn't even know what he would say, and Arin did not bother to address the issue. The sun set, and everyone drifted off to bed. The sun rose, and they rose with it.

Bathory and Negati were at the kitchen table. Bathory sat there with his head in his hands while Arin's comments still rolled around in his head. How was he supposed to address that? How was he supposed to cut through what seemed like a fundamental misunderstanding between the two of them? What was he supposed to do?

Negati sat across from him, resting over her half-eaten breakfast.

"You should talk to him," she said.

Bathory nodded lightly.

"Obviously."

"And maybe…maybe you should go spar with him."

Bathory looked up.

"What?"

"I mean, I don't know him as well as you do, but there might be something bothering him. Perhaps there's something he's keeping inside him. Maybe he needs to release some energy."

Bathory took a deep breath and let it back out.

"Negati, you know him well enough. You know what got him here. There's probably a lot of things bothering him."

"And wouldn't he like to let some of that out? Bathory, Nemelendelle is a great place for all of us but we aren't exactly in combat roles. You were right – Arin never had a chance to face a combatant again before yesterday. And wouldn't he also like to know someone understands him?"

"Negati, I do understand him."

"Except that yesterday was…"

Bathory walked right into her setup. He put his head back in his hands and finished her sentence.

"…completely unexpected."

Arin opened the door to his room and stepped out.

"The new Captain has called me down. I will be going, then."

Negati turned to face him, scooting her chair around and making a bit of noise.

" _We_ will be going, then."

Bathory looked back up.

"What?" he asked.

"We should go with you, Arin. We want to make sure you do well by the Captain's standards. If there are any setbacks, we can vouch for you if needed. And we also want you to know we have your back."

She smiled and looked over to make sure Bathory understood. He rapidly looked back and forth between the other two, but he got the picture and he smiled as well.

"Yeah, Arin. We'll come with you."

Arin crossed his arms and nodded.

"Understood. Now to see what the Captain wants of me."

* * *

The three mages sat in the Captain's office. She sat behind her desk, papers and folders already starting to pile up at the sides of it. Aside from those, her desk had several pens of different colors and a basic device that projected a keyboard for her to type on and a screen for her to work on. A pair of earbuds were plugged into the device and rested on the desk at the moment. Eratarka typed on the keyboard, trying to handle other files that only existed digitally. While doing so, she addressed the other three mages.

"I admit - I didn't expect you all to come here. Lieutenant, Sergeant, you understand neither of you are in trouble, right?"

"Correct," said Negati. She and Bathory had changed into their uniforms for the meeting with Eratarka. "We want to make sure all of us understand what you want from Arin."

"Well, that's fine by me, as long as I am not stealing you away from your regular work."

Eratarka pushed a couple more buttons on the holographic keypad and leaned back.

"There. I am sending the assignment to his device."

"What's the assignment, Captain?" asked Bathory.

Eratarka still leaned back in her chair and rotated it to face her guests in dramatic fashion.

"Mister Vesceron, pay close attention. You have now been conscripted into an elite team of bureau operatives, hidden from public eye. You will infiltrate a maximum security orbital prison as one of the prisoners to gather info on a supposed breakout attempt in the works. Also, your name is now top-secret information, Agent, unspoken by anybody, even you. From now on, you will be known as… The Ghost Wizard."

Negati and Bathory's faces went pure white. Bathory's voice wavered as he raised his hand.

"U…um…Captain…y-you're kidding, right?"

Negati raised her hand as well, though she had a different question.

"Th…the…the Ghost Wizard?"

Eratarka closed her eyes and laughed. She leaned forward and looked back at the three mages.

"I'm kidding. I'm letting my mind run wild. I was listening to this book and that's the story – it's pretty trashy, and you can kind of see a lot of things that don't really make sense if you're as high up in the bureau as we are – kind of stretches the truth of a lot of things but, ahh, it's fun. You're right, let's get serious. Arin will be doing a bit of community outreach. There is a mage who arrived on this planet a few months ago to recuperate from injuries she got back home. Her name is Izah Lumiere, and we definitely want to keep in touch with her."

Retrigal finally received the info Eratarka sent, and a screen opened up from it showing the official mage info for Izah. Her picture was in the top left corner, and below that it listed her device, spells and history with the bureau. Bathory, Arin, and Negati all looked at the info, but there was one detail that the three of them gravitated towards.

"Wait," said Bathory, "it says she's a…"

"An aerial mage, Triple-A rank." said Eratarka.

Bathory whistled to himself. AAA rank was nothing to sneeze at. It was a lucky treat for a planet like Nemelendelle to house one.

"Yep, yep, definitely make sure she's on our side," he said.

"Izah arrived here with some of her family," said Eratarka. "She has a familiar that came along, and her brother did so as well. As I said, she came here to recover from her injuries, but she should be up and moving by this point. We kept up progress with her at the start, but we haven't heard from her since. Nobody has seen her out in public either. It's like she vanished."

Eratarka sighed again.

"I really don't want someone like that falling through the cracks. If she won't come to us, we will come to her. If you can talk to her, try and figure out why she is holing herself up instead of reaching back out. She can return to the TSAB at any time, if her injuries have healed."

The data on Arin's device changed to show a map of the city and the location of the Lumiere house. It was further out from the other parts of town than most other houses were.

"Maybe she really likes being alone?" said Bathory.

"You can find that out," said Eratarka. "Return to me and let me know how discussions went. I would definitely like her to contact us again if she can. But let Arin do the talking, okay? It's his mission, remember!"

The three younger mages thanked her again and filed out of the office as she got back to reports.

* * *

Asana was hunting.

Her ears perked back and she stood completely still, one paw raised up and hanging in the air. She was concealed in the light undergrowth, but so was her prey. She had heard it, though, and it was close; if she could get a head start, she would definitely catch the other animal.

Behind her master's new home was a small field of tall grass and other common plants like it. There were very few pollinating flowers to add color to the scene. Asana, in her fox form, could hide in the grass and be a predator in the food chain, as she used to be before accepting her contract.

With her master's contract came new abilities, unexplainable to a common animal. Izah had created a link and now shared magical power with an animal that had no innate magic before. Asana could transform to look like a human, she could speak their language, out loud and telepathically, and now she could use magic as well. But in her heart, she was still a fox. Sometimes she wanted to transform back into an animal. Sometimes she wanted to live, for a bit, like an animal. Sometimes she wanted to hunt like an animal.

So she waited, frozen in place, the only sound being the bird and insect calls that were always present. They droned on and Asana tuned them out. They were so far away compared to the noise she was waiting to hear.

And there it was. Footsteps raced off through the brush. Asana gave chase, already knowing she was behind and trying to reach top speed as soon as she could. She caught a glimpse of her prey – a small brown rodent of some kind – as it weaved through the undergrowth, darting back towards its home. Asana zeroed in and followed right behind it, gaining on it ever so slowly. Just a little further. Just a bit closer, and she could pounce.

The tall grass parted and the two animals were coming up on a small rock formation. Her prey ran up to the rocks and squeezed itself into a dark hole. Asana stopped in front of the hole and put her snout up to it. She could hear the rodent chirping as some kind of warning, and she could smell the thing clearly, but it was too far in. Her prey was safe. Not like she would have eaten it – human food tasted way better. But it was just the thrill of the hunt.

Next, her attention was caught by some sounds that came from the side of the Lumiere house. Asana turned back and she walked over to see what was going on. Vaele was outside, dragging the homemade targets from the van and driving them back into the ground, grunting from exertion. The ground would only break a couple inches when the poles first went in, and Vaele would need to grab a rock to use to hammer the poles further in by striking the tops of them. The boy got the last target rooted in and standing on its own, and he panted lightly from the workout.

" _Hello, Vaele,_ " said Asana telepathically. " _Will you be practicing here once you make adjustments today?"_

Vaele looked down at the fox and nodded. He responded out loud.

"Yeah. After what happened yesterday, I don't want to drive around any more than I need to."

The van stood in front of the house, showing its damaged door proudly to the two of them. Vaele went back over to the front porch.

"I guess I'll get to work and see what I can do. Maybe today I'll have something."

Vaele entered the house and left Asana outside. The familiar felt a little tired after her chase, and she went over to the front porch as well. She wasn't going to go inside, though. There was one other animal instinct that stayed with Asana even after all that happened to her – for sleeping, any surface at all under a warm sunbeam was better than the comfiest bed in the dark.

Asana plopped down on the front porch, rolling over back and forth. The slightly rough wood felt great scratching against her back while her chest felt the radiance of the sun. After a bit, the fox settled down, resting on her side and facing away from the house. She closed her eyes and waited to drift off to sleep.

However, almost as soon as she did that, she heard another sound. This sounded like an engine, and it was getting closer. She opened her eyes again and stood back up. The driveway leading up to the house was somewhat long, and it was straight as well. There was definitely a car turning off the main road and coming up the drive.

Negati was driving up to the property. Bathory was in the passenger seat and Arin was sitting behind him. Bathory rubbed his hands together rapidly and looked back at Arin as best he could.

"Okay, Arin, here's the plan. Well, actually, if you have a plan then obviously you go ahead there, but if you don't have one, then just give the secret signal and I'll jump in."

Negati slowly looked over at him, eyebrows raised.

"What secret signal?"

Bathory sighed lightly.

"I don't know, maybe a word or something. Like a - like a special word you probably won't actually say so if you do say it, that lets us know to step into action."

Arin tilted his head to the side.

"So I am supposed to subtly insert a word that is intentionally out of place? That appears to be the definition of an oxymoron."

Bathory sighed harder and brought his hands up to start gesturing with them as well.

"Okay, then maybe, like, a hand signal or something. I dunno. Do that thing where you put your hands together and make it look like a bird or something. But do it real quick. So quick that no one notices."

"And, provided I can pull this gesture off without attracting suspicion, what if I am so fast that you do not pick up on it?"

Bathory shut his eyes and turned back to face in front of him.

"I don't know. Do it again?"

"Arin," said Negati, "you don't need to anything weird. Just be natural. Bathory, honestly, you are overthinking this more than I expected you to."

"Okay. Okay, you're right. He's got this. We've got this."

On the porch, Asana saw the car getting close and quickly transformed back into human form. She pushed the front door open then burst into the living room, looking around while talking rapidly.

"Miss Izah, we have guests!"

Izah was sitting on the couch, looking at something on a holo-screen projected by her device. She turned to face Asana but didn't react with much enthusiasm.

"Oh?"

The door to Vaele's room opened as well and the boy stepped out.

"Really?" he said curiously. "No one ever comes by. Wonder who it is."

Vaele peeked through the front door. The car had parked and the people inside were getting out. A brown haired man and a red haired woman got out and were chatting to each other. Vaele stared, and he realized with horror where he had seen the two of them before. Then, the third passenger opened his door and got out from the backseat and all of Vaele's fears were confirmed.

That was him – the guy that beat him up yesterday!

Vaele slammed the door and spun around, racing over to Izah and almost shouting at her.

"Izah, Izah, it's him!"

"Who?" his sister asked.

"The guy! The guy who busted up the car. He's back!"

Izah understood what that meant. She made a promise to her brother yesterday, and now she was being called on to fulfill that promise. She stood up rapidly, clutching the dark blue gem that was her device.

"Greater Call, come out!"

[ACTIVATING]

The pistol transformed in her hand again, and she and Vaele raced back to the door.

Bathory, Negati, and Arin were still talking among themselves. They had grouped up and were walking over to the front porch. Suddenly, the front door was thrusted open and Izah stepped out, aiming Greater Call at the group.

"Which one, Vaele?"

Vaele stepped out next to her and pointed directly at Arin.

"The one on the left. Fire away!"

The three visiting mages had paused to watch the scene, so far not comprehending it. There was Izah standing on the porch, charging up her device and aiming it at them. Why was she acting like this? What caused this? And why would her brother – oh, it's him. The kid from yesterday. The one Arin got in all this trouble from.

The pieces assembled for Bathory and he jumped forward to protect the other two.

"Wait, wait, this is a big misunder-"

Izah fired at Arin and Bathory formed a barrier in front of his group. A large green Belkan triangle appeared to protect the mages as the projectile rocketed through the air. Izah had put some serious force into it, and when her shot hit the barrier, the explosion that was created launched Bathory back between the other two mages and down to the ground. The smoke cleared, and Negati was out in front now.

"Izah? Izah Lumiere? We're here because we want to talk to you. That's it. We don't want to cause any trouble for anyone."

Arin stood next to her and spoke directly to Vaele.

"I am not here to do anything further. Coincidentally, I am here serving my sentence in reparation for my actions toward you."

He held up his right arm to show the device locked on him. The two explanations seemed to calm Izah and Vaele down and Izah lowered her weapon. Bathory got to his feet and joined the other two while Izah deactivated Greater Call and smiled.

"Welcome, then," she said. "Please do come in."

* * *

Bathory, Negati, and Arin all sat on the couch next to each other. Izah sat in a chair to their left, with Asana standing by her side. Vaele was simply leaning against the table, barely looking in the direction of Izah's guests.

"First off," said Bathory, "I just want to make it completely clear to you three, especially your brother…umm…"

"Vaele," said Izah.

Asana looked over at the boy and called out to him.

"Vaele, please come join us."

The boy crossed his arms.

"I'm listening," he replied.

"Anyways," said Bathory, "this is just a big coincidence we're meeting him again. We're not here to pursue anything further. Though I do want to say that he did well at the range yesterday."

Asana's face brightened up and Izah smiled a bit.

"Vaele, you did?" asked Asana cheerfully. The boy felt all the unwanted attention and turned away.

"…kinda sorta…" he muttered.

"But that's just a side note," said Negati. "Izah, we want to talk to you about a couple things. Arin, if you would?"

Negati set the stage for Arin to jump right into his work. He sat up straight and began.

"Izah Lumiere, you should rejoin the TSAB."

He ended his statement there, and the other five in the room all expected him to keep going. But that was all he said. Nervous seconds ticked by until the aerial mage in question gave an awkward response.

"Umm…o…okay?"

It was silent again. Everyone expected Arin to maybe continue now but there was nothing. Finally, Negati sighed and put her head in her hands.

"Eratarka didn't really understand, did she?"

Bathory joined her in exacerbation.

"It's…admittedly not the best mission to be his first one…"

Negati tried to save the scene. She looked back up and addressed the woman sitting across from her.

"Look, Izah, we don't want this to be some rigid, formal meeting. Ignore our uniforms. Ignore our ranks."

She shifted slightly, her tone softened.

"We're guests. We're visitors. And we want to talk for a bit – get to know you and make sure you're doing okay."

Izah nodded. She understood the intention but she didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell the truth, after all.

"Yeah, I'm doing okay. And you have my data, right? You know about me."

"Your TSAB profile? That's all hard facts. Your name, your age, your rank, your magic style, and, yes, why you are here on this planet. But that doesn't tell us how you're doing, or how you feel."

"You're able to use your magic, it looks like," said Bathory. "You could use it quite well, actually. So it looks like you're recovering."

Izah chuckled a bit but then her shoulders sagged and her head started to droop.

"Probably have, yeah…"

"What's wrong?" asked Negati.

Everyone else looked over at her. It was a surprisingly forward question.

"What?" asked Izah.

"What's wrong, then? Something's definitely on your mind. Can we help with anything?"

Izah sighed and sat up again.

"Are you guys looking to send me back home then? Because I just…I'm just not sure about that."

"Are you worried?" asked Negati.

"A little bit."

"Why?"

"Because of...probably what they'd all think."

"About what?"

Izah really didn't want to talk much or reveal anything. As awkward as it would be, she tried her hardest to end this conversation.

"Nothing. Nothing, really."

Vaele reached his limit and he finally spoke out.

"Because of what they'd think about her! Because of how she's acting now. You weren't like this before, Izah. You weren't like this before you got attacked."

Asana spun to face Vaele and raised her voice.

"Vaele, you are not helping Miss Izah by acting like that! It's not helpful at all bringing that up."

Negati quickly jumped in.

"Actually, I think that might be helpful."

Four sets of eyes all turned back toward her again. Arin's gaze had never left Izah, though nobody noticed.

"Izah," she continued, "as we mentioned, we only have the info about you that's on our file. You are here because you were injured and you needed to recover. But it's obvious that something is still affecting you. And I don't know if we can help until we know what that is and how you see it. If you think you are able to, could you please…please talk to us about it?"

There was silence again as everyone waited on Izah's answer. She had seemed so reserved that it might have been a long shot. She took a deep breath and then released it.

"Okay," she replied. "You're right. I should try and explain this all. Vaele's right. I used to be different. Not like this."

She looked forward and crossed her legs.

"Vaele and I come from a different planet, world 71 – Amber. We're under the TSAB's cloud, but most of us don't have very powerful magic. There are mages, of course, but few are strong enough to stand out and we're not exactly a hot spot on the bureau's radar. And then, there's me."

"Yeah, one of the details we definitely noticed about you is that triple-A rank," said Bathory. "That's incredible, especially if what you say about your planet is true."

Izah nodded.

"Just like how some of the Midchildian Aces can come from some random planet that isn't even administrated, I come from Amber. And on Amber, I was definitely the most powerful one there. The first day of training, I was more powerful than my teachers. I couldn't really practice with anyone. If we sparred, I won. The TSAB obviously talked to me. I was just a kid but they made being part of the bureau sound so interesting. Since Amber doesn't really get the best resources, I started trying to build my own device and the TSAB jumped in. They sent it out to someone who knew what they were doing and got me back my own intelligent device, Greater Call. All before I was even ten years old."

Izah held up the dark blue gem for her guests to see. Vaele shook his head and he looked back away from the scene as Izah returned to her story.

"By that point, mom and dad thought maybe they could get two really powerful mages as kids, so I got a brother."

She smiled and looked over at Vaele, who was turning a little bit red. He really didn't want the attention.

"Yeah, but it didn't turn out like that," he spat.

"Oh come on Vaele, you haven't even tried to determine your rank in forever."

"Not since we knew I'd never even come CLOSE to you! Who cares what I can do when you're around and you can just do everything?"

"Vaele," said Bathory, "Do we have to remind you about what we saw yesterday? You definitely have talent. Don't compare yourself to anyone else."

Flustered, Vaele looked back at the group.

"W…well, there's more to it. Izah, tell them where this all ends up."

Izah closed her eyes and sighed.

"Right. As the years went by and everyone told me how great I was, I started internalizing it. I took it all in a bad direction. If there was any problem, I handled it. I could do it better than anyone else, right? Nobody could fight back. I…I ran the place. People played by my rules. I was trigger-happy. Magic doesn't kill, right, unless you want it to? I might stop a crime easily then turn around and be just as selfish for something I wanted. That's how it was up until a couple months ago."

Izah shifted nervously in her chair.

"And that's when you were injured?" asked Negati.

"Right. I…I couldn't tell you names or give any faces. But down below me, on the streets, people were planning something. The underbelly of Amber just finally had enough. I didn't expect it. I was overconfident and I never imagined anyone could do anything to me."

Izah took another deep breath.

"We were all notified of a crime in progress on the outskirts of town. Everyone knew I'd go take care of it and I went to do so. I couldn't even tell you the details – it really didn't make a lot of difference. But I remember this – I got there and thought I would fight maybe one or two people. But all at once, there were more. A lot more. They all jumped in. Some binding spell kept me from getting away. I was strong, yes, but I was also caught way off guard, and…"

She shifted again.

"And they won. They all attacked and they all made each strike painful. It wasn't just magic - it was physical too. They were probably trying to break as much of me as they could. By the end of it I was down on the floor and I was barely awake. I don't know if they expected me to die out there, but…but I was sure that I was going to."

Negati and Bathory sat there, just processing the story. Finally, Negati spoke up.

"How did you get out of there? Obviously you got to safety."

Izah looked at her guests and smiled.

"The noise did attract some attention, but not from a human. I remember, I was lying there, calling for help in my own mind when I saw this small creature peering out from the bushes."

Izah looked up at her familiar. After the severity of the previous part of the story, she seemed to almost enjoy this part of her tale.

"It was a light brown fox, and it came over to investigate."

Asana also beamed with energy. Her tail twitched behind her and her ears perked up.

"Yep!" she said. "There was something I felt from Miss Izah – something that made me really curious."

"Probably my magic," replied Izah. "I never had a familiar before, but I was desperate for anything to get me out of there. I called out to Asana and she came closer. And though I was barely conscious, I made a contract with her and made her my familiar so she could save my life."

"It was incredible!" yelled Asana. "I had all these powers now and this big human form, oh, and since Miss Izah can fly, I could fly!"

The two of them laughed and then Izah looked back at her guests.

"Asana got me to the hospital in time and I was stabilized. I knew I still needed assistance, and I extended her contract so she would assist me as I recovered. She helps Vaele out a lot too, especially when I'm…unavailable."

With that one phrase, reality popped back into her mind. It wasn't just nervousness that kept her locked in her cage. It was those pills she had tracked down to get rid of the pain from her injuries. These weren't prescribed by any doctor. If the TSAB knew she had them, they would definitely be taken away. The thought of losing them was the most terrifying thing to her. The pills may have kept her locked up but they also kept her sane. She didn't want to know how she'd feel, how she'd act or what she'd do if the chemicals ever wore off.

None of her guests knew her mind was racing like that. It seemed like she had just paused to get the right words before continuing.

"The TSAB was worried about Vaele's safety, as well as my own. So we came here together."

"Vaele?" asked Asana. "What do you think about this planet?"

The boy kept leaning against the table. His arms had lowered and he lightly grabbed the edge of the table with both hands.

"It's…it's something…" he replied.

"Well, Izah, I just want to say something," said Bathory. "It's such an incredibly hard step to look back at yourself and admit you were in the wrong. I fully admit, I had a time in my life where I was just pushing everyone around and I was trying to get my way. And…and it took…some real consequences, I'll say, to make me realize what I was doing."

He lifted up his right leg and rested it on the other. He rested his hand on the leg, as if he needed to know it was there.

"Your planet would love to have you back. And if you don't want to return, Nemelendelle would love to have you as well. Heck, I think any place would."

Izah just sighed and slouched over again.

"Yeah…maybe…"

Vaele looked over at Izah. Telepathically, he spoke to her.

" _Izah, I know you don't want to, but you need to tell them."_

The older woman's eyes opened wide. She kept staring at the floor like she was but she responded telepathically back to Vaele.

" _T…tell them?"_

" _Yes. Please. They can help. They want to help!"_

" _But I can't. You know I can't."_

Vaele gripped the edge of the table tightly. His knuckles went white from the force.

" _Why not, Izah? Why not?"_

" _Because…because you know what'll happen…"_

Bathory, Negati, and Arin sat there on the couch in silence. They didn't know the true extent of Izah's issue. They thought maybe this was a severe case of shattered confidence. With that thought in mind, Negati clapped her hands once and held them together.

"Izah, I have an idea. Let's get up and take this outside."

Izah was confused. Curiously, she looked up at the redhead.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I think you need to fly again."


	6. The Bird in the Cage Part 2

**Chapter 6 - The Bird in the Cage Part 2**

* * *

The entire group made their way outside. The wind was blowing again, warmer than it had been for the last few days. Bathory, Negati, Arin, Asana and Vaele all stood in a line facing Izah, who was standing a couple steps away from the rest of them.

"I'm not able to fly," said Negati "but I've heard from those who can how wonderful a feeling it is. And I mean, I know how I feel after a good workout. Maybe it's like that – or maybe not, I don't know. But either way, it looks like you need a bit of a morale boost. You need to see for yourself that you've still got it in you."

"Woo! Go Miss Izah!" cried Asana. She looked extremely excited and pumped her fist in the air.

Izah chuckled nervously and looked down at her hand. She was holding Greater Call's standby form, and she knew it was watching her as well.

"Okay…" said its master. "Well, we can give it a shot..."

She straightened up her posture and held her arm out to the side, hand closed tightly around her device.

"Greater Call, come out again!"

[ACTIVATING]

The gem glowed brightly and transformed back into the dark blue pistol. Izah felt her mana start to channel through the device. The neon green lines around the outside frame pulsed with the energy Greater Call was feeling. She brought her arm back in.

"Alright, Izah," said Bathory, "if you think you can do it, we want to see you soar."

Izah nodded and stared down at her device.

"Greater Call, let's give them a show."

She closed her eyes and focused her magic on lifting up into the air. A light orange Midchildan circle formed on the ground under her and she slowly started to rise off the ground. She moved directly upward, up above the house and the trees around it. The others all stared up at Izah with different expressions on their faces. Arin and Vaele stared rather plainly while Negati and Bathory both looked excited. Next to them, Asana was overjoyed.

"Miss Izah! Let me join!" she cried, and pushed off the ground, jumping up into the air herself. She flew up to her master and spun around her a couple times. Izah slowed down and floated in place, smiling at her familiar and shifting to a more relaxed pose.

"Miss Izah, look, we're flying together," said Asana. Izah laughed lightly and rubbed the top of Asana's head. The fox familiar shut her eyes tightly and her ears twitched. Asana was right, though – it was the first time they'd both been in the air on their own power.

Down below them, Negati called out to the air mage.

"Okay, Izah. We can't exactly join you up there, so we'll just stand by and watch. Take it at your own pace."

Izah understood. Looking forward, she rotated until her body was horizontal and took off. Asana followed, and while Izah kept in a straight line, Asana showed off more, following along while also rotating in a corkscrew pattern around her master. Izah headed out to the edge of the field around her house and turned in a wide arc, following along the treeline that bordered the field. After that, she changed elevation and aimed back toward the ground, lowering herself to the height of the trees next to her. Suddenly veering off to the side, she flew between a pair of trees, remained on the other side for a moment, then flew back through the treeline like a slalom.

She'd gone out quite a way from her guests and she decided to double back. She veered off to the left and flew even further down towards the ground until she was coming back the way she came, flying just above the top of the tall grass in the field. Asana came back behind Izah, laughing wildly and feeling the top of the grass with her hand as they zoomed past it. Soon the two of them got back over to the other party. Izah quickly stopped and grabbed Asana as the familiar almost flew past her, spinning them both around in a circle until they hovered in place. Izah hadn't really used that much energy, and while her heart was beating a bit faster, she didn't have to catch her breath or anything like that.

Bathory and Negati were both pleased, and even Vaele had warmed up a bit. Seeing his sister happy was definitely an improvement.

"So?" asked Negati. "How was it?"

"Good," said Izah. "I didn't know how I would feel during it but I didn't notice anything off. Thank you for the idea."

Bathory chuckled once.

"Oh, wait, wait, we're not done."

Izah and Asana both looked at him, confused. Bathory held his hand up so the two could see his device.

"We're just getting started. You can fly in a nice straight line, but how quick are you to get out of danger? Aphelion, go!"

The dark green gem began to pulse brightly.

[UNDERSTOOD, MY MASTER]

Aphelion transformed around Bathory's wrist. While Izah and Asana were focused on the weapon, Bathory continued to speak.

"I wish we could join you, but like Negati said, none of us have the ability to fly. Still, Aphelion can help show off what you can really do in the air. I'll fire a couple shots up and you shoot them down or dodge them. Got it?"

Izah and Asana looked at each other. Asana nodded first, and Izah followed suit. She faced the ground mage again.

"I understand."

Bathory just smirked and held his arm out, aiming it at Izah. The firing ports slowly spun around their ring.

"Well? This is too easy," he said. "Get moving!"

Izah prepared herself and took off again, flying diagonally into the air. Asana took off as well, keeping up with her master. Bathory aimed Aphelion in their direction and fired a basic shot. The green bullet soared after his target and Izah looked back to see it. As it got close, she veered out of its way and the projectile went past her into the sky.

Bathory re-aimed his device and fired again. Izah was headed on a collision course with it but ducked under the shot right before it would intercept her. Bathory continued, firing several shots from Aphelion at Izah's path, aiming again to hit her while she dodged every previous bullet. After a few seconds of that, she went to fly higher, heading directly away from Bathory again. Thinking he should up the difficulty, Bathory aimed at her and fired off multiple shots at a faster rate. They flew up to Izah, but before they got there, she spun around, holding Greater Call with both hands.

She fired several times. Her own bursts of energy flew out from the pistol and intercepted Bathory's shots in midair. Each collision kicked up a small explosion. Bathory lowered his arm slightly, caught off guard a little by the effective defense.

"…Huh," he said. He stood there looking up while Izah slowed down and hovered in place. They were some distance away from each other, but they both stared at the other, waiting for the next move.

Bathory was the first to act. He looked over at his device and gave it a command.

"Aphelion, launch a barrage of homing shots."

Aphelion pulsed again.

[UNDERSTOOD, MASTER – CALIBRATING FOR A HOMING ATTACK]

As the firing ports started to glow with energy, Bathory raised Aphelion high into the air. It finished charging, and its master ordered it to fire. Aphelion complied and a whole volley of shots fired up into the air. They flew up until they were level with the aerial figures then all broke off in their own arcs but then headed for the two in the air. Izah and Asana looked at each other.

"You want to split up?" asked Izah.

"Let's go for it!" shouted Asana.

They both took off in different directions, dividing the homing shots into two groups. Some of them followed Asana and the others followed Izah. When they dodged around the attacks, the pellets would simply curve back around for another chance. These would have to be directly destroyed. Izah would spin around and fire Greater Call, sometimes taking a pellet out when she hit it. Asana had access to her master's spells, and she could hold a hand close to her chest in order to summon a ball of energy herself. Then, she'd throw that ball out in the hopes of also intercepting one of the pursuers.

Izah twisted like mad through the air, balancing evasive maneuvers along with returning fire. This was a huge test of coordination and she just barely managed to keep herself out of danger. The pack of shots following her was whittled down until there were only a few shots left that had grouped up into a pack. Izah looked back, and she had an idea. Maybe she could try to use one of her more complex spells. She was feeling okay so far, right?

Deciding to try, she aimed her device back at the group of pellets.

"Greater Call, let's take them out. Bending Light!"

Her device shot out a large projectile that floated in place, waiting for the homing attacks to reach it. When they got close, several strands of light shot out from the energy ball and connected to the oncoming burst. There was the sound of something charging up, and all the magic projectiles started to glow. After a second, the pursuing shots had reached the larger ball and they were all together. Everything was glowing bright and the energy ball exploded, taking out all of the incoming shots that it had linked to.

Izah saw that her attack had worked. She breathed a sigh of relief and coasted along, until her device suddenly called out.

[ALERT – INCOMING]

Izah's eyes shot open and she spun back around. Right before her eyes, a stray pellet was heading straight for her. Her mind blanked for a second and she could only watch it get ever closer. At the last second, a figure flew in front of her view and stopped there.

"No!" Asana cried. She thrust her arms out and a magic shield formed in front of her and Izah. The homing pellet hit the shield and kicked up another explosion. The shield remained, though, and afterward Izah and Asana looked at each other again. Asana pulled Izah in and hugged her master tightly.

"Th…thank you, Asana…" said Izah as the tight embrace got in the way of actually speaking.

"No problem, Miss Izah. Now go ahead! Show them what else you can do!"

Izah looked down and over at her guests. They weren't here to battle her, but it might be good trying a couple more attacks and seeing how she felt. She didn't seem as rusty as she worried she would be.

"Okay, Asana," she said. "Follow close by. Bombing Run!"

She prepared for a moment then sprang forward towards the group back on the ground. Coming in low and fast, she flew right in front of the group and passed them all, making the mages' hair and any loose clothing flap in the gust of wind. Vaele knew what was coming, and he took a step back. Then, he noticed no one else did.

"Um…" he mentioned, "you three should probably back up."

The other mages looked over, confused. But then, several light orange circles of Midchildan magic formed on the ground in front of the group. After another second of them charging up, the circles exploded, going one by one in rapid succession along the path Izah had followed. The three mages braced themselves, and each one put up their own barrier for protection. The explosions rocked against the barriers but Izah hadn't used her full power and the barriers remained standing.

Izah lifted up in one final loop, dropping down in front of the ground mages and hovering right above ground, flipping around to land on her feet. Before anyone could say anything, she held her arm out. She rapidly spun Greater Call around the trigger guard, watching the device rotate over and over again. As she did so, something began to charge up in the pistol. Finally, Izah grabbed the pistol again, turned her hand sideways, and swung her arm out at the targets Vaele had set up earlier. A small cartridge-like fragment of energy flew out from the bottom of the handle and spun in the air, dropping to the ground and skipping along it. The projectile went right up to the targets and then exploded, launching shrapnel-like bursts of energy at all of the targets.

The ground mages reacted in different ways again. Bathory and Negati were both impressed, Arin still stood there unaffected, and Vaele had actually begun to sour again. Izah probably didn't mean to upstage him but now when he tested his own device later he knew that all he'd be thinking about was the stark contrast.

Izah was now panting. She had used a bunch of magic – more than she expected to. As Asana landed and hugged her master again, Izah started to feel a pang in the bottom of her stomach.

Exactly what she was worried would happen did happen. Using her magic had started to flush the pills out of her system. Her body started to respond. Her stomach hurt and there was the start of a serious need. A need to get back inside, get back to her room, and fix this. Trying to look like she was still thinking positive, she bolted for the house.

Asana saw this and followed, trying to catch up with Izah.

"Miss Izah, please wait!"

The other four watched this sudden turn of events. It took a few seconds for them to react to it. Vaele sighed and looked back at the range he'd set up.

"Well, that's that," he said. "Thanks for coming, you three, but you should get going."

He turned away and walked over to the targets. Negati and Bathory were both stuck looking between Vaele, Arin, and the house, back and forth again and again. Finally, Negati had a plan that she put into motion.

"Arin, you should go talk to Izah more. See how she's doing. That'll give Bathory and me some time to meet with her brother. How about that?"

Arin kept looking at the house and he nodded.

"I will attempt to engage her again in conversation."

"Good. Good. We can meet back up after that."

* * *

Izah ran through the living room and over to her bedroom. She shoved the door open and quickly went over to the medicine bottle that was lying next to her mattress. Holding it tightly in one hand, she reached to unscrew the top when Asana's hand covered her own.

"Miss Izah, please, not now," said her familiar.

"Why not?" asked the mage. "Asana, you know how I'm going to start feeling."

"Please wait, Miss Izah. You still have guests over."

"Tell them to leave! I did what they wanted. Now they can go."

"A few more minutes. That's all they need."

The argument was silenced by the sound of the front door opening and closing again. Quickly, Izah hid the bottle of pills under the mattress and walked back out to the main room. Arin was standing there alone. He focused on Izah, and as Asana also stepped out of her master's room and closed the door, Izah crossed her arms and addressed the man. She tried to hold back her newfound irritation but a little bit slipped through.

"So. You're the one who attacked Vaele."

Arin stared plainly at Izah.

"Yes, I am."

"And why would you ever do that?"

Arin broke off, looking away and walking slowly to the side of the door.

"It was an overreaction."

Izah chuckled.

"Really? From you?"

"Hmm?"

"I can't imagine you overreacting. You've had that same face the entire time you've been here."

Arin looked away again.

"I stepped out of line. I overextended."

Then, he turned away from Izah entirely. He looked out the window next to the front door and saw Negati and Bathory talking with Vaele. The three of them were over at the firing range Vaele had set up.

"I gave them too much of a picture I do not want them to see," Arin continued. "I must do a better job at keeping it out of their attention."

Izah raised her eyebrows.

"It's gutsy of you to just admit that you're hiding something."

"It's weak of you not to admit the same thing."

Izah's eyes opened wide. She and Asana stared at the guest.

"Wh…what are you getting at?"

Arin faced Izah again. He clasped his hands in front of him.

"Nervous speech. Distracted focus. Indecisiveness. I can tell the signs of a poor liar, as I am able to avoid those signs. Rather, I cannot demonstrate those. I cannot worry. I cannot hesitate. I do not doubt. I am direct in my actions and do not reveal myself when I choose to lie."

Down in his gut, his anger began to resurge. He had chosen his words carefully to cause such a response within him. It was as if he needed to be his own catalyst to summon that feeling and let its effect course through him. Quickly, he turned again, putting his hands up to the window as he stared back out at the group outside. He took a couple deep, forceful breaths and ended his speech.

"So I will hold this back and project what they want to see. I cannot let them know of this secret – I cannot let them steal it from me too."

The room went silent. Seconds passed by, with one mage awaiting a response and the other unsure of what to say. Finally, Izah lowered her arms and muttered under her breath.

"You and me both…"

Arin turned back around. He only needed a dose of emotion and it had receded again.

"Hmm?"

Shaking her head, Izah just chuckled again.

"You are fucked; you know that, right?"

Arin nodded once.

"Yes, I do."

* * *

"Excuse me, Vaele?" asked Bathory.

Vaele had gone over to the small shooting gallery and Bathory and Negati had come over. The young teen looked back at the two when his name was called. He didn't seem particularly thrilled to be addressed.

"What?" he replied.

"What did you think? Izah's demonstration was certainly impressive."

"Yeah, but I've seen all her spells before. I guess I'm glad she still knows how to do them."

He turned around and looked out at the targets he'd set up.

"I'm just gonna be over here. You can go talk to Izah some more."

"Actually," said Negati, "we're also interested in seeing what you have."

Curious, Vaele looked back at the other two.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We noticed, yesterday…"

The boy cringed. He'd been let go – were these two going to make his actions a thing again?

"…that you were using a bureau device available specifically for the event," Negati finished. "Do you have a device of your own? Do you need one?"

The younger mage sighed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the brown card-shaped gem.

"I have one," he said. "I'm trying to build it myself, like Izah did. Of course, I'm not getting the help she got, and it's really not working out."

"I'm not sure I understand," said Bathory. "Can I see what you mean?"

Vaele sighed again. He knew what would happen and he probably knew how the other two would react. From what he saw of the battle yesterday, they had such a good grasp on their magic that this would just be humorous for them.

"Fine," he spat. "Let's get it out of the way."

He raised his hand and the device transformed into its weapon form. He quickly turned and aimed at one of the targets. Pausing for a second to line himself up, he fired. The expected outcome happened again. The shot dropped toward the ground, passing under the side of the target.

Bathory and Negati did both notice that. It was surprising, coming from the same boy who could land his shots so well before. Vaele grunted in displeasure, aimed at a different target, and fired again. It arced wide and shot off into the horizon.

Immediately Vaele spun around to counter the insult he assumed would be said.

"Yeah, I know, it doesn't work! I'm trying, okay?"

"Whoa, hey, hang on," said Bathory. "We're not saying anything. But…but we do see what you're talking about. If you'll let me, can I try?"

"Huh?" asked Vaele.

"Could I try firing it? I want to see for myself what's happening."

This wasn't a request Vaele expected to get. Unsure, he handed the weapon over and Bathory took it. He held it in his grip and looked at its construction. It was rough around the edges – not the most elegant of devices. The boy was probably not focusing on aesthetics at the moment, though. Bathory stood where Vaele had been and aimed with one hand at the targets. He also took a second to line his shot up, then he began channeling his magic into the device and he fired.

The device behaved the same way, and the shot went wide right out to the treeline. Bathory winced and looked back at the others, a look of displeasure on his face.

"Ooh, yeah, that did not feel right. It felt like – felt like something got lost when the device actually shot. I can't really explain it."

He handed the weapon back to Vaele, who deactivated it back into its standby form.

"So what do I change?" the boy asked.

"I don't know. Sorry. I'm not really an engineer – I wouldn't know where to start."

"B – but what about your device? A-Aphelion, wasn't it? Haven't you ever done anything to it?"

Vaele pointed to the dark green gem hanging from Bathory's wrist. Bathory looked down at it and flicked his wrist, spinning the cord holding Aphelion up and around so the gem landed in his hand.

"Oh, Aphelion? Well, it was my dad's device before he gave it to me, and it was already set up. I've modified it, yes, but I'm only changing things on top of the foundation that was already there."

In response, Aphelion started to pulse in Bathory's hand.

[MASTER, DO REMEMBER THAT I WAS MODIFIED WITH THE CARTRIDGE SYSTEM UNDER YOUR COMMAND]

Bathory smiled and he let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, yeah, right. That was – what – over a decade ago now? I mean, it's standard now but imagine back then. The Wolkenritter were discovered, and they introduced this cartridge system that all of the TSAB suddenly wanted to pick up. Man, Aphelion, we broke you bad trying to get that in you. We didn't really know what we were doing at first. We should've asked for help but hey, we were Sibans, we'd figure it out."

Bathory lowered his hand and looked back at Vaele.

"But just like with your sister's device, we had people who knew what they were doing and they made the big changes. They got Aphelion up and running."

Vaele seemed disappointed. He started to sigh again when Negati interrupted him.

"Though, if you do want a bureau device for yourself, you-"

"Yeah, yeah, the other guy already told me. Join up, which I'm not gonna do, or buy it, which I can't."

Negati bit her lip and looked up at the house.

"Maybe we should talk to Izah again. Maybe she can help you out."

* * *

In the house, Arin watched as his acquaintances outside were finishing up. He quickly turned around to face Izah and Asana again.

"By the Captain's standards, she will expect some progress to be made in revisiting with you. Please present your device so I may synchronize it with my own."

Arin held out his hand with Retrigal resting on top of it. Izah instinctively clutched Greater Call tighter and held it to her chest.

"W…what are you saying?" she asked.

"The Captain wishes that we establish an easier point of contact with you. Please present your device so I may gather its info and have the ability to reach out to you again at a later date."

Izah was not following along. She turned her body slightly to put just a little more distance between Greater Call and the strange emotionless man standing by the windows.

"Why would I do that? You're not really making a good impression here…"

Arin took a step forward.

"You never did dismiss that you were hiding something."

Izah and Asana's eyes both went wide. Slowly, they looked over at each other. The same question ran through both of their minds.

" _What exactly does he know?"_

"I do not care what your secret is," said Arin, "though others may be very interested in it if I voiced any concerns. Please, I am only asking something basic of you to push me along in the service that I am now required to perform."

Izah gulped. This was blackmail – it had to be. But Arin's offer seemed like it would calm the waves the most. So what if she was called later? Asana would make up an excuse if Izah couldn't exactly talk then.

"...Fine," remarked Izah after a pause. She closed the gap and held out Greater Call. The two devices both began to pulse as they transferred information to each other. When that was done, both mages put their devices away and as if on cue, the front door opened. Bathory, Negati, and Vaele walked into the living room.

"Okay," Negati said, "I think we're all wrapping up. Thank you again, Izah, for working with us."

Things were starting to take too long. Izah's body was really starting to feel the withdrawal. She smiled, but it was a bit too sarcastic and her annoyance threatened to show through.

"Yes, it was my pleasure…"

"And also," said Bathory. "I hate to end things on this note, but we have to get serious for a second. Yes, we want you to keep in touch due to your ability and prior history with the TSAB, but we also cannot afford to fund you doing nothing. We gave you these accommodations with the expectation that you'd do something for us, as well. At some point soon, we may have to evaluate how much you are contributing to our community and act on that. If you're not ready to go back home, you'll need to do something here on Nemelendelle."

Again, Izah's true intentions was barely held back. She crossed her arms again and only responded back with a quick comment.

"I see."

"Izah, there's something else to consider," said Negati. "Your brother has potential, but he is struggling with the resources he has. If you do get back into serious discussion with the TSAB, perhaps we can extend a hand to you and other members of your family."

Negati and Izah both looked at Vaele. The boy felt very uneasy again at the attention. He tried to respond, but little more than stammered syllables came out.

"Um…I…err…uh…"

"Well, it's something to keep in mind," said Bathory. "I do hope you'll respond to us. We have opportunities at any position based on your current comfort level. You can jump into something more active if you want to, or you can ease back in slowly. I admit – my position here is a lot less active that what I was doing back on my home planet, but at the moment, I definitely prefer that. It's a good feeling to wake up each day and know what to expect."

He smiled, and Negati nodded. Asana also nodded, but Izah didn't. Her stomach hurt - one of the first signs of her withdrawl - and it was transmitting that pain loud and clear. Her teeth were clenched together and she was on the borderline of just screaming for the others to leave. Asana could feel this, and she ensured it wouldn't happen. She thanked the guests again, they said their goodbyes, and they filed out of the house.

Before the door even closed behind them, Izah was heading back to her room. Like before, she pushed the door open and dropped to her knees by the pill bottle in one swift motion. She picked it up, popping the lid off and turning the canister over to drop a pill into her other hand. Several fell out, but she didn't need to take more than one. That would probably be too much. Still, she didn't bother to do any more than just twist her hand and drop all but one pill to the floor before holding her head back and putting it in her mouth. She closed her mouth, swallowed, and immediately let out a sigh of relief. It didn't act that fast, but just the fact she was going to stop hurting soon was good enough.

As she gathered up the other pills that had fallen out and put them back in the bottle, Asana came in and kneeled down next to her master.

"Miss Izah, will you consider their offer?"

"I don't know, Asana. Stop bugging me. I'll think about it."

"Did you hear them? You could even help Vaele. I know he would like that."

Neither of them noticed, but Vaele was leaning against the door in the entryway to Izah's room. He stood there, quietly, just listening in.

Izah took a deep breath. She knew what the schedule was when she went on her trips. In ten minutes, she wouldn't even remember she had visitors.

"Whatever, Asana. I'll deal with it later, okay? Now give me some space. And turn the air conditioning on - it's getting hot."

Disgusted, Vaele walked away, over to his own room. He went in it, slamming his own door loudly. Asana and Izah both winced. With a small nod, Asana stood up and left the room.

"Miss Izah, please let me know if you need anything."

The familiar closed the door and left Izah alone. Izah looked down at her fingers. The pain was starting to recede, but she could already feel the other part of the drug taking over. She was beginning to move and think more and more slowly. With one more sigh, she fell onto the mattress and rolled onto her back, thinking about the visit and what had transpired. She really didn't know what to expect when she was requested to take flight. She had no idea what she could do, and the results were both exciting and also terrifying. As she fell more and more into the haze, she was almost glad she could put those thoughts on hold for a bit.

She had spread her wings once again but it was now time to return to the cage.


	7. The Road to Sovereignty

**A/N:** Fun fact, the title for this chapter, The Road to Sovereignty, was almost the title for this story until I realized that the abbreviation (TRtS) was way too close to the one for the first story in this series, Raze the Stray (RtS). Hey, I care about that kind of stuff! I don't want confusion across my works!

* * *

 _I don't know what I said  
It went something like this  
A burning itch down in my feet it shot up to my chest  
I felt it fill my lungs  
Made its way out to my tongue  
And by the time it left my mouth my gums were housing liquid bone_

 _I know I've got a home, I know I'm not alone  
It's just that I don't know where it is or if I can go  
I tried to do the math; tried to calculate the path  
But the equation for a home is rotten wood and broken glass _

Okkotonushi - _Shimmer_

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - The Road to Sovereignty**

* * *

After the events of that morning – the visit with Izah and her companions – a schedule conflict was again in order and Negati had to split off from the other two. She headed to a meeting located elsewhere in the city while Bathory and Arin were driving back to the city's Bureau headquarters. Bathory had some time free, and he was hoping to make good use of it.

"Bathory, if we are simply meeting with the Captain again, I could have done so remotely," said Arin.

"Yeah," replied Bathory, "but I was also thinking that maybe we could hit the training grounds – maybe just practice a bit. You saw my battle yesterday; I could always shoot faster, do better, improve something."

"And what do you expect of me?" asked Arin.

Bathory chuckled. That was the Arin he knew – pushing straight to the heart of the matter.

"I guess, Arin, that it might be good to let some magic out in a more…controlled environment. I'm still thinking about yesterday, of course. I was really caught off guard by all that, but hey, it makes a bit of sense if you think about it. Maybe you might be thinking of your time here as just waiting around for the next opportunity to fight. I don't see it that way, Negati doesn't either, and I'm sorry. I guess I assumed you thought the same. And you know what they say about assumptions-"

"That has not been a major focus of mine, Bathory. I have not been waiting daily for the next time of battle. That is another incorrect statement."

Bathory sighed and lightly gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Okay. Then at the arena, let's fight a little and talk a little as well. I obviously know what's going on less than I think I do."

* * *

Very little had changed in Captain Eratarka's office since that morning. A couple folders were in different stacks or in different parts of a stack, and one folder and its contents was now spread out in front of her. Her storage device continued projecting a keyboard and monitor, and the earbuds she connected to the device were now up in both ears. She had zoned in on the work in front of her, but the two loud knocks at her door were enough to catch her attention.

"Come in," she said.

Arin pushed the door open and filed in with Bathory behind him. He began speaking even before Eratarka could pause the recording she was listening to and remove the earbuds.

"I spoke with Izah earlier as you requested."

"What?" asked Eratarka. "I couldn't hear you. Come again?"

Arin paused. It lasted just long enough for it to feel like more than a simple act of courtesy.

"I spoke with Izah Lumiere earlier as you had requested of me."

Eratarka nodded and leaned back in her chair.

"Ahh, right. Yes, yes, good of you to do that quickly."

"So?" asked Arin.

"…So what?"

"Have I completed the task?"

The Captain looked at Arin, confused. She was obviously expecting something more from the conversation. Slowly, she attempted to extend it.

"…And what was Izah like? What do you think about her situation?"

Something in Bathory's mind told him that he should really answer this question. He'd been standing back, but he moved up next to his friend and addressed Eratarka.

"Captain, I think she's doing very well. It seemed to us that she just didn't know where she was in the recovery process – she was scared to test her abilities again but we got her out and flying around and she looked like she could handle it. I think it was a surprise to her and I think maybe in the next week or two we might see her more."

Eratarka nodded and she spun back to face the monitor. She went to pull up Izah's information so she could make some comments.

"Good, good," she said while doing so.

Arin crossed his arms and continued looking right at her.

"So have I done what you were expecting?"

Eratarka looked back at him.

"Hmm?"

Arin held up his arm, showing the device that Eratarka had placed on him.

"Have I performed to your standards? Have I done well enough for you to release me from your service?"

Eratarka sighed and stood up. She also crossed her arms and she met Arin's gaze with her own.

"So, let's think about this," she said. "What part of your actions would you say you've worked off – the damage to that young man, the damage to that vehicle, or the damage to my free time?"

Arin's eyebrows lowered slightly.

"So I am not free to continue on?"

"Not at all. I was absolutely expecting you to do more than one thing for me. I am sorry that we are on different pages, but you should definitely get on mine. That is what I am going to follow."

Eratarka waited a second, but she was enlivened enough to jump back in before Arin could respond. Her arms shot out and made exaggerated gestures as she spoke

"Mister Vesceron, need I remind you, that device I put on you has no effect on your body or restrictions to a confined location. I could not possibly punish you less aside from doing nothing. As one of the faces of bureau administration here on Nemelendelle, I had to act on what I saw and respond accordingly. Sure, I could have brushed it off but I could have also done worse. Let me flip this on you – on your old planet, Siba, what would your administration have done if they caught you doing the same crime that you committed?"

"Nothing" said Arin. "I was in my right to ensure I apprehended the suspect without possibility of escape. My actions were performed in accordance with the Siban TSAB protocol, if you remember me mentioning that. That is why I performed as I did in the first place."

Eratarka and Arin just stood there, staring at each other. Bathory fidgeted nervously next to Arin, scared that his friend would get in more trouble if he continued but completely at a loss for what to say. Finally, Eratarka spoke first.

"Mister Vesceron, shall I get you a limiter?"

Bathory felt a chill down his spine and now he jumped into action.

"N-no, no, Captain, you don't need to do that. Arin was just confused, that's all. He thought he was done, but he's not. Obviously he needs to work a little more, so just call us up when you want him to. Sounds good?"

Eratarka uncrossed her arms and relaxed a little bit.

"Stay in contact with Izah. Keep following her recovery. If she's that hesitant to act, it'll be best if you three keep speaking to her rather than send a million different people her way. That's your next goal, for now."

Arin also relaxed and nodded once.

"Understood. Am I dismissed?"

"Yes. You're free to go."

Arin turned and left the room. Bathory stayed behind, almost rooted in place, confused once again at his friend's behavior. He stared at the door that Arin had passed through. Eratarka noticed Bathory still standing there.

"Master Sergeant?"

Bathory snapped back to face Eratarka.

"Oh, uh, s-sorry, Captain. I…I don't know. I swear, I don't know what's going on either. It seems clear to me what you want and what you're doing for him. I'm not complaining."

Eratarka leaned forward and rested her hands on the desk.

"What worries me the most with your friend is his perspective, especially in relation to your home planet. He behaved as if he were still on Siba and he finds nothing wrong with that."

Bathory lowered his head and rubbed his temple with some of his fingers.

"I heard him too, Captain."

"How long has it been since the three of you moved here? Two years?"

"Almost two, yes."

"But you and Lieutenant Winter adapted very quickly to our TSAB standards."

"Well, Captain, if you mean renouncing Siba, you heard the story – Negati and I went through a lot that…that definitely made us rethink everything. Arin…well, I pulled him off Siba part for his sake and part for mine. I couldn't let him live any more on the same planet that…that turned him into who he is. I couldn't, in good conscience, do that. And we made the right choice coming here. Negati and I – it's great for us. It's the exact opposite of Siba, and that's pretty much exactly what we needed."

By the end of that, Bathory was lightening up. Eratarka, however, was still thinking things through.

"But does Arin like it here?"

"Yes, yes, of course. I think he does. He doesn't say it, but he doesn't really say a lot. I mean, I hope he does."

"One thing is clear though, Master Sergeant, and that is that your friend will need to adapt. We follow the standards set by Midchilda, and so does most of the planets across the Bureau's reach. Your friend is not on Siba, and unless he wants to return there he cannot continue to behave as if he is. I started out lenient on him – there is nowhere to go but getting stricter from here. I hope you can drill that into him, otherwise if something like yesterday happens again, the Bureau will have to do so."

"No, no, I understand. I was going to try and work with him after we met. I've got this."

Eratarka smirked.

"I hope so. Is that all, then? Anything else?"

Bathory shrugged. Some small talk might be good to wind down after all of that.

"Umm…yeah, so how is the book going? The…uhh…the one with the prison break?"

Eratarka chuckled and looked back down at the device.

"Ahh, see, I had to pause that one and haven't gotten back to it yet. I've got a few stories I'm listening to based on what I'm doing and how much I need to focus – it's hard to listen to action when you're dealing with mountains of paperwork."

"Right, right. So what's on now?"

Eratarka leaned against her desk.

"So, when I just have to sit down and do a million things here in the office, I've been listening to this autobiography about this Captain for the TSAB but he was in the dimensional Navy, you know, part of the crew on one of those battleships – and that was, like, a couple decades ago – but after he retired, sort of through a friend of a friend he got involved in this winery. So, his story's basically about how he gets all of this equipment and materials and had to learn it all from scratch so he could start running the place and maybe try and expand. It's pretty good. Pretty interesting. It's called…uhh…it's called Times of Grapes."

Bathory just nodded lightly.

"Hmm, sounds interesting but the title could use some work. Okay, well, that's about it. Thanks again, Captain."

He bid Eratarka farewell and left the room. Out in the hall, he looked to both sides but he didn't see Arin anywhere.

"Arin?" he asked.

Down by its master's right hand, Aphelion began to pulse.

[I HAVE RECEIVED A MESSAGE FROM ARIN VESCERON – HE IS WAITING FOR YOU AT THE FACILITIES]

Bathory spun the dark green gem up into his hand and clutched it tightly.

"Okay, okay. Man, Aphelion, what am I even going to say?"

[I HAVE FAITH THAT YOU AND HE WILL COME TO A RESOLUTION, MY MASTER]

"Hopefully. Hopefully we can figure this out."

* * *

Bathory opened the door to the training area and walked in. When the entire room was not reserved for large events like the ground training session yesterday or for specific classes, the different parts operated on a more first-come-first-serve basis. Bathory saw Arin standing near the middle of the room, looking at the constructible arena. It looked like a class or two of younger trainees had set up there already, without any obvious timeframe of when they would be done. Out of the corner of his eye, Arin saw Bathory coming over and he turned slightly to face him.

"I do not think your plan will be carried out at this time."

Bathory stopped next to his friend and looked over at the arena as well.

"Oh, that? No, no, I wasn't planning a full-on battle – just a little practice. We'll find something available. We'll take up one of the Strike Arts areas."

With that, Bathory walked over to the other side of the room and Arin followed. Across from the digi-arena, there were several spaces all next to each other, sectioned off by solid markings on the ground that showed the border between the spaces. Bathory saw an empty area and stepped into it, raising his right hand and holding the standby form of his device up.

"Aphelion, transform. No barrier jacket needed."

[AFFIRMATIVE, MASTER]

Aphelion glowed and changed into its standard form around Bathory's right wrist. Bathory stood on one side of the temporary 'ring' and Arin stepped in as well.

"Retrigal, activate."

Arin held up his device and it also glowed before transforming into its weapon form. The mage held the long staff loosely in one hand as the two groups of grey blades spun slowly next to the two ends of the staff. When the weapons were out, Bathory stood facing Arin before slowly walking to the side, following the curvature of the outer border of the space they were in. Arin moved as well, staying directly across from Bathory, who closed his eyes momentarily and let out a quiet sigh.

"Arin, there's a couple things we need to talk about."

Suddenly, Bathory's eyes shot open and he stood in place, spinning to face his opponent and raising his arm up to point it at Arin. Aphelion fired several shots and Arin also stopped, holding a hand up to summon a grey Belkan triangle of magic as a barrier. The shots all collided with the barrier, dissipating into it but not cracking or breaking it. After the barrage, Arin lowered his arm and the barrier phased out again.

"Such as?" he asked.

Bathory resumed walking and Arin followed along. The shorter mage also lowered his arm and looked out in front of him, carefully considering his words.

"Your reaction to Captain Eratarka's punishment, for one thing. And also – definitely the bigger issue – your justification for the actions you committed yesterday."

Bathory stopped a second time, swinging Aphelion up and firing at Arin again. Arin also paused and repeated the barrier to take the incoming attack. Bathory fired a few more shots than before, and as Arin blocked them, he clutched his weapon tightly and waited. When the barrage was over, Arin dashed forward, and the blades on his weapon were spinning faster. He got in close and swung the weapon so that one set of blades would crash into Bathory. Bathory, in return, summoned his own dark green Protection spell and kept it up as Arin swung Retrigal into it several times. The strikes had power to them, but it wasn't Arin's full power and the barrier stayed up, looking undamaged.

After the counter-attack, Arin jumped back and returned to his position. He waited until Bathory lowered his barrier before responding. His voice was still plain and unchanging, as it normally was.

"You stood next to me as I conveyed my opinions quite clearly. What possible expansion to that must I provide to you?"

Instead of continuing to pace around the ring, Bathory stood in place.

"Let's start with the smaller thing, then," he replied. "Your sentence should be easy. I think you can handle it. Was this morning particularly difficult? I don't think it was. I mean, Negati and I did most of the talking. We're probably not supposed to but we'll back you up on this if needed. You'll get through it."

"It is not a question of the simplicity, Bathory, but of the fact it is a requirement in the first place."

Bathory groaned.

"You're right – you didn't tell me anything new. Aphelion, rapid fire!"

Bathory raised Aphelion up and fired a faster barrage at Arin. Arin held his free arm up again and blocked the shots with another barrier. As the volley continued on, Arin prepared for an immediate counterattack and channeled more energy into the device. He turned and flicked his wrist around in a pattern, spinning the staff behind him as the blades began to glow intensely. As soon as Bathory's attack ended, Arin dropped the barrier and took a step forwards. He began to raise the staff up above his head, grabbing the end closest to him with his other hand. Bringing the staff down like an axe, he swung it and launched out a glaive of blade-shaped magic from Retrigal that flew through the air at Bathory.

Bathory's eyes shot open and he summoned another barrier himself. Arin's attack slammed into the barrier and kicked up an explosion that pushed Bathory back several feet. The barrier stood, though.

Bathory lowered the spell and stared at Arin. It was time to get into the serious discussion.

"Okay then," he said, "so you attacked Vaele as much as you did because that's what we'd have done on Siba. But why? That's the question I want to know. I thought you would have moved on too. I thought I knew you but I obviously don't. So I want to learn."

"It appears your misconception can be solved rather easily, Bathory. I have provided my logic. Accept it, and you will now understand this chain of events."

"No, no, I'm not going to accept it. Siba was long ago, Arin. I would never for a second bring any of that here to Nemelendelle."

Arin clutched the handle of his weapon tightly. That familiar feeling was rising in him again. If he was not careful, it might show itself publically for Bathory to see. He charged again, rearing back Retrigal to attack. Bathory put up another barrier, but as Arin swung the blades into it repeatedly, the barrier began to form cracks along the surface of it. Arin was definitely putting more punch into his attacks. This was escalating past what Bathory was expecting from the training, but maybe if he could keep this going, he could learn what he was wanting to learn. As Arin swung again and the blow glanced off Bathory's barrier, Bathory quickly dropped the shield and looked at his device.

"Aphelion, Razor Form!"

[UNDERSTOOD]

The green magic blades shot out of the grooves on both gauntlets, and as Arin swung in again, Bathory caught the blades from Arin's device with the blade of his own and pushed against it. The two mages stood there, locked in a stalemate. They glared at each other.

"You should stop bringing yourself into my problem, Bathory."

"Why not?" asked Bathory. "Why can't I try and relate to you?"

Arin took a deep breath through his nose. Again, he wasn't showing the anger building up, but it took effort keeping it back.

"You insult me every time you do so."

"What? How? How do I?"

"You treat this issue with an air that your view is superior."

"I…huh? Arin, what do you mean?"

"You tell me I am wrong for not behaving as you and Negati do."

Bathory lowered his guard for a second. It felt like Arin was almost speaking in riddles, and he was trying to figure out exactly what Arin meant. It came to him, though, and he resumed pushing against Arin's attack with force.

"Arin, I am only asking you to adapt. Even if you don't believe at all that the behavior we followed on Siba is unacceptable to the rest of the TSAB's expectations, you need to play by the rules wherever you currently are. And I don't know what's so hard about that."

That last line stung in Arin's brain. His façade came dangerously close to cracking.

"What do you mean by that, Bathory?"

"Arin, do you remember what it took for me to change my mind? Do you remember everything I had to go through to finally break from Siba? Do you remember my leg, Arin? You were there. You saved my life. Do you remember? You won't have to go through anything close to what I went through. You won't have to deal with any of the same consequences. All you need to do is make a conscious effort to put that away and learn what you need to learn."

Enraged, Bathory looked down at his weapon.

"Aphelion, let's strike and end this. Arin, I am going to make this clear to you!"

Bathory pushed with all his might and shoved Arin's weapon to the side. Though Arin held onto Retrigal, he was staggered. Bathory spun around in a circle as the blades on Aphelion began to grind back and forth. The plan was that its master would swing around and drive the spikes into the barrier Arin would put up, hopefully cutting that barrier open and removing anything that stood between the two. After that, hopefully Arin would be in a position to listen. That was the plan.

But as Bathory spun around, letting out a loud cry, Arin suddenly dashed in and swung a fist right up into Bathory's unprotected stomach. The attack connected perfectly, and Bathory's entire demeanor changed in an instant as the wind was knocked out of him. His eyes shot open and he let out a loud gasp, going almost limp from the attack. He doubled over around the fist that was still connected to his gut, and he might have fallen over had Arin not shoved him back. Arin raised his own weapon up and had lost all control over the anger he was keeping secret.

"I told you not to do that again!" he yelled and swung Retrigal at Bathory.

[AUTO-GUARD]

Another green barrier formed in front of Bathory, purely from Aphelion's doing. Bathory would never have been able to protect himself, so his device channeled its master's magic itself to keep him safe. Still, from the course of the fight, the barrier was taking a beating, and the cracks resurfaced across it.

"Arin…" Bathory gasped. "W...wait..."

Arin swung again. It hit the barrier, which kicked Bathory back another couple feet and cracked the surface even more.

"I am not you, Bathory. You are not me. I will think what I choose to think and do what I choose to do."

He swung several more times. Bathory was being pushed close to the wall of the room, and his barrier was dangerously close to cracking. The whole time, he tried to speak but could barely mutter more than single words at a time. Arin stayed close and continued speaking.

"I do not need your help, Bathory. I do not need anybody telling me what to think. I can control that! I can decide that! I am in charge of my own head!"

He swung again, and the barrier couldn't take any more. It shattered open and Bathory stared up, terrified, at Arin.

"N…no, Arin…"

In one swift move, Arin kicked Bathory and sent him back into the wall and then rushed up, pinning Bathory in and holding some of the blades on Retrigal against Bathory's throat. The two mages stared silently at each other, one wide-eyed and one whose eyes were narrowed in anger. It remained like that for several seconds. As Bathory recovered and caught his breath, he noticed that several concerned bystanders were watching the scene, probably very worried for his sake. Bathory smiled and tried to address them like nothing was wrong.

"It's…it's okay, it's okay, I'm fine with this. Really, I am. I'm not in any danger."

Then, he looked back at Arin and lowered his voice.

"I mean, I hope I'm not. Please Arin, let me go."

Begrudgingly, Arin released Bathory and Bathory dropped to his knees. He supported himself with his arms, hands against the ground, panting and trying to recover as best he could. His device transformed back into its standby form. Above him, Arin also attempted to recover. His device also returned to his hand and he thought about his actions. That had been a very public display of anger, and he knew it must have been noticeable.

Below him, Bathory tilted his head to look up as best he could.

"Arin…you…you got angry…"

The taller mage took a deep breath. When he spoke, it sounded like his normal, emotionless self.

"Yes, unfortunately. If you remember, I was modified with a mental disposition to repel you should you attempt to engage me, as part of Siba's punishment against you for your incident. Anger is the one emotion I am still able to show. Though I am able to ignore it most of the time, in a situation such as this, it may have manifested itself and caused me to respond in a way unbefitting to our normal interactions. Though I will reiterate that I do believe in what I said, and anything outside of my intentions is merely overstatement and not direct lies."

Through the course of that, Bathory had worked on moving over so he was sitting down instead, his back resting against the wall. He closed his eyes, and while his heavy breathing was calming down, he wasn't ready to get up yet. Arin was still looking down at Bathory and he continued speaking.

"I presume you have picked up on what I am trying to tell you. If you choose to continue this conversation at a later time, I hope we can be more cordial in our approach."

Bathory tilted his head back and nodded lightly.

"Yeah…that…that sounds good…"

Finally, Arin took a couple steps away from Bathory and spoke again.

"I am still residually upset at the events that have just taken place. Perhaps it is best for the both of us if we parted until later when we will have both recovered. I can find my own way home, Bathory."

Arin began to walk off. As he did, Bathory watched him through blurry vision. He reached out towards the other man.

"Arin…Damnit, you were supposed to listen to me. Aphelion, he was supposed to listen."

The green gem pulsed again around the back of Bathory's hand.

[PERHAPS YOU ACTED TOO SOON, MY MASTER – YOU MAY NEED TO TALK MORE WITH HIM BEFORE ACTING NEXT]

Bathory chuckled lightly, even though doing so made him cough.

"Well that's not how it's supposed to work, Aphelion. I thought the talking came after the blasting."

* * *

The rest of the day dragged on at the Lumiere house. Izah had been in her room all day and so had Vaele, leaving Asana to kill time in whatever ways she could think up. Being a familiar, her experience led her to tasks outside such as prowling about the immediate area or, when she was extremely bored, cloud-watching. She'd run out of areas around the property to explore, and so she laid on her side on the front porch, staring up at a shape in the sky that she could almost somewhat imagine to be a frog – or maybe a tree, or maybe even herself.

Behind her, the sound of activity came from inside the house. Asana stood up and transformed back into her human form. She turned around and looked back into the house to see Izah shutting the door to her room behind her.

"Miss Izah, you're up!" said Asana brightly.

Izah paused to crack her neck to both sides.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm up. I'm good now. But, urgh, that felt like forever. What time is it?"

"Umm…kinda late. Come see."

Asana turned back and looked out at the sky again. The sun wasn't about to set, but it had arced most of the way through the sky and within the hour it would head over the horizon.

Izah just looked away and sighed. She walked over to the couch and sat down.

"No one else from the TSAB came over?"

Asana looked back again.

"No, nothing."

"Good. Good."

Asana had a thought, and her ears perked up as she got slightly more energetic.

"Aah, Miss Izah, are you hungry at all? You must be, right?"

Izah pulled out Greater Call from her pocket and held it in her hand.

"No, actually. I don't know. I probably should be but I'm not. Here – if Vaele wants anything to eat, I'll join in."

She got up to go knock on her brother's door. With her master up again, Asana noticed that Izah's clothing was perhaps a bit looser than it was several months ago. Her eyes opened wide and she exaggerated surprise.

"Aah, but Miss Izah, you're so skinny! Don't you notice?"

Izah paused at her brother's door and chuckled lightly.

"Asana, I'm fine. Besides, better that than, you know, turning into a plum."

Then, she knocked on Vaele's door several times.

"Vaele? You hungry? If so, tell me."

She waited, but there was no answer. She knocked again and asked her brother again, but there was still nothing. After waiting long enough, Izah turned and walked over to Asana.

"Has he been in there the whole time too?"

Asana looked at the door, and nodded sadly.

"Correct. He hasn't come out either since this morning. I've been out here alone the whole day."

Izah also looked back at Vaele's room.

"Huh. You'd think he'd have wanted to go do something. Walk around or go practice with his device like he usually does. If I was more worried, I'd run outside and check his window."

Again, something else made Asana suddenly perk back up. Her whole body stiffened straight and she looked at Izah with a wide smile.

"Oh, Miss Izah! Now that you're awake, we should get outside and go flying again!"

Izah stared at her familiar.

"Uhh…"

"Come on Miss Izah, it was super fun. Please? I'm reeeeeeally bored."

Izah looked away. She had to think about that request.

"I don't know. After this morning-"

"But you flew really well, Miss Izah!"

"But Asana, if I use my magic too much-"

"You don't need to use any other magic. I just want to go exploring."

"I'm not stopping you. Go for it."

"No, no, with you, Miss Izah!"

Izah kept thinking. Technically, flight was a low-mana-use spell, and all the effects she felt from that morning came from using her attack and defensive spells. She probably could go flying around without exerting herself too much. Probably. Hopefully.

Izah sighed with a smile and looked back at her familiar.

"Well, I guess I can-"

She couldn't even finish her sentence before Asana cried out happily, grabbed Izah by the arm and raced to the front door. Izah stumbled along, trying to slow the other girl down but with her requests falling on deaf ears. The two only parted so Izah could get her shoes on. As she slipped her feet into them and stood on the porch, Asana ran into the yard. Readying for takeoff, she prepared to leap up as a Midchildan magic circle formed under her quickly. Then, with a loud and energetic cry, she took off, flying straight up at top speed. Her cry got fainter and fainter as the fox familiar grew smaller against the sky.

Izah looked up, shielding her eyes from the sunlight that made its way through the branches of nearby trees. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. Second thoughts started to form, but with another deep breath, she pushed those out.

"Asana deserves this. She just wants to help. She just wants me to be happy."

Then, another magic circle formed under Izah, remaining there longer as Izah deliberately channeled her magic. She began to lift off the ground. After a couple feet of slow ascension, she looked up above her and flew at a moderate pace to catch up with Asana.

Asana had finally stopped, high up above the ground. Izah reached her and the two hovered there, looking out in front of them. From their position above a house on the edge of the main city, the two could see as houses and stores got closer together moving into the city before becoming more densely packed in the very hub. Djavo Nije didn't have skyscrapers or anything of the sort so the view continued on until distance and discernibility of the landscape were the limiting factors.

"Wow…" muttered Asana. "There must be a lot of people…"

Izah shrugged. She didn't have much to add.

"Miss Izah," said Asana, "we should go into the city."

"What?"

"Yeah, you've been inside a lot since we got here. Vaele and I got out some, but…"

"Asana, I…I haven't been doing well. You know that."

"But…but Miss Izah…"

"No. I…not today. Not right now." said the air mage.

She turned and looked around. The city was in one direction, but there was also everything the other way. With her house being near the edge of town, it wouldn't be a far trip to get back to the edge and head beyond the settlement. Izah looked back at her familiar, who was beginning to slouch over again, disappointed.

"Asana."

Asana looked over at Izah.

"Yes?"

"How about this – we can still go exploring, but maybe somewhere else. Let's see what's outside the city, out in the country."

Once again, Asana quickly cheered up.

"New territory! Wow, who knows what we'll find?"

Izah laughed.

"Exactly. Come on, follow my lead."

Izah turned to her right and flew that way. It wasn't a direct line away from town. She was okay with skirting the edges, curving around the soft border of the city. It looked like there was a river that ran alongside the town for a while up ahead before breaking off again, and that might be something worth check out.

The air mage stuck to a simple, straight line while her familiar engaged in greater theatrics. Izah just smiled as she heard Asana let out another energetic call, spinning about in what seemed to be like a one-woman synchronized show. After a couple minutes, the two got closer to the river and curved down lower to the ground. It looked like there was a bridge that jutted out above the gorge that the river had cut down below the land on both sides. It was a two-lane bridge, continuing a road across it where one side led back to the main city and the other led straight into a forest of some kind. Tall trees were packed in across the ravine, and it didn't look like there were any houses over there. But still, there was a road, and the road had to lead somewhere. With a silent nod, Izah curved to follow the road out into the countryside, flying down in the path cleared through the trees. Without as much room to maneuver, Asana stayed close to her master.

They followed this path for a ways, as their curiosity was enticed more and more. Who was out here? What was out here? It seemed like on Nemelendelle, the Bureau used only as much space as was needed, and would expand if necessary. Izah looked down, and noticed that the road below seemed to get in worse shape the further they went. This was not an oft-maintained area.

At some point, there was a side path, where it seemed like a trail wide enough for a car was cut with just dirt underneath as that drive went its own way. Izah and Asana paused at the intersection and looked up the dirt side-road. If they squinted, they could just see what looked like a house.

"Huh," Izah muttered. "What's over there?"

"I don't know," said Asana. "There's only one way to find out."

Izah turned and reached out to stop Asana but the other girl had immediately flown down toward the house. Izah took a tentative breath, nervous at the thought of intruding on someone's property. If they were doing so, though, it would probably be best to catch up with Asana and drag her away if needed. So after a couple seconds, Izah joined in and flew down to the property too.

Asana was standing on the ground in front of the place, looking at it. The wooden exterior seemed in tough shape. The boards on the outside looked incredibly discolored and some had even fallen off. Some glass had chipped out of the windows and would probably be on the floor. Her master flew to her and landed back down on the ground as well.

"I don't think anyone's home," said Izah.

She walked up to the front door, now curious to see what was inside. At the door, she took another deep breath and knocked.

"Hello?" she asked. "Hello?"

No response. Silently, Izah and Asana looked at each other and then Izah turned back to the door. Slowly, she reached for the door handle. It was a simple doorknob, and when her hand got there, she turned it and pushed in.

The door began to open, when suddenly it broke free from the hinges and just fell down right into the entryway. With a loud bang, it hit the floor and both women tensed up. Several birds that had been perched in the nearby trees took off and flapped their wings through the air, startled by the sound. Again, after a little bit, Izah and Asana looked back at each other. Izah's teeth were clenched, and with a relieved smile, she spoke through her teeth.

"I did not mean to do that."

Asana chuckled lightly.

Looking at the inside of the place, it had definitely been abandoned for a while. Most furniture was gone, leaving wide open rooms that connected to each other above rotting floorboards. The two explored the interior, looking out the stained windows and watching for anything sharp on the floor below them. Asana made it to the back wall, where the windows showed a view right into a thick cluster of trees. She stood in front of the window.

"Wow," she said. "Whoever lived here, what did they do with it?"

"If I had to guess," said Izah, "maybe they just lived off the land. Chopped trees for wood. Hunted for food."

"Hunted?" asked Asana. "What did they hunt?"

By this point, Izah was approaching her familiar. She didn't have a lot of knowledge about this topic but she could make some guesses.

"I don't know. Whatever's out here. Whatever they could do something with. Maybe deer. Maybe bears, if they're around. Or maybe…"

Izah chuckled. She stood right behind Asana, and broke into a sinister grin.

"…Or maybe foxes."

Asana spun around, startled. Her ears and tail stood up like she was on high alert.

"F-f-foxes?" she cried.

"Yep," said Izah, still smirking. "There's a lot you can get from one."

Asana seemed mortified.

"L…like what?"

"Oh, I dunno…your meat?"

"M…m…my meat?"

"Or maybe your fluffy little tail and ears."

Asana's eyes looked up rapidly at her ears then down to her tail, which twitched to the side to show itself. One hand reached up to cover an ear while the other went to the base of her tail, pinning it down against her body.

"I…n…no, not those!" she cried.

Izah smirked again and placed her hands up on Asana's shoulders. She rubbed them as she spoke again.

"Or maybe…they'll make a coat out of your pelt!"

Asana snapped back to face Izah, processing that mental picture in her head. With another cry, she jumped back and held herself tightly. She shut her eyes and looked away.

"Aah, not my pelt! Don't take my pelt. That's mine!"

Finally, Izah had to laugh. She dropped the façade and pulled Asana in, hugging her.

"Don't worry Asana, no one's going to touch you. I'll make sure of that. I'm very appreciative of your service to me."

Asana calmed down and looked up at her master.

"Hurray! Thank you, Miss Izah. I'll do my best, forever and ever."

"Well, until I recover. That's our current contract. But…but I don't know when that will be - if that will even happen."

Izah's demeanor shifted again, and her arms basically slid off Asana as they fell back to Izah's sides. The air mage looked off at a corner of the room, seeming preoccupied. Slowly, she shuffled away to the other wall. Asana noticed the change and looked on at her master, worried.

"M…Miss Izah?"

Izah checked the floor below her, and then when she was at the wall, she turned and lowered herself to the ground. She sat down with her back against the wall, closing her eyes and remaining almost frozen. The only movement was down at har hand, where she rubbed the surface of Greater Call as if she was polishing it. With neither of them talking, there was just the sound of birds calling out from the nearby trees. Izah took another slow breath, inhaling it and releasing it out through her nose.

"It's quiet," she finally said.

Asana was hesitant to respond. She didn't know what Izah was getting at.

"Y…yes, yes it is."

"And we're alone."

"Y…yes Miss Izah, we are quite far from the city."

The air was still. The tree cover cut out any wind there might have been, and apart from the bird calls, there was just silence. Izah paused, carefully picking her next words. She opened her eyes, but not all the way. It's like she couldn't do so – like it was too much effort to do so.

"Asana…if I didn't go back…if I stayed here…no one would ever find me."

Asana felt a chilling wave rush through her. She ran to her master and dropped to her knees in front of Izah, ignoring that her skin was bare and that nothing would be in the way of splinters or glass.

"Miss Izah!" she cried. "Are you feeling okay?"

Izah smiled, but like her eyes, it also seemed like it was empty.

"I'm fine, Asana."

"B…but what about if people want to see you? What about those people from the TSAB?"

"I'm sure they'll manage."

"W…well what about Vaele? What about your brother?"

Izah lowered her head.

"Didn't much want to see my face today."

Asana grabbed Izah's arm, lifting it and holding her master's hand in her own.

"Miss Izah, you know Vaele has a lot on his mind. If you want to see him, I can let him know. We can talk when we get back, right? Does that sound good?"

Izah smiled again, but it wasn't quite the same fake one as before. Asana was too naïve. She didn't pick up on anything there. Izah was sad about something, and Asana was going to do what she could to fix it. That's all.

She looked back up at Asana.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Let's get back, then. I think I am getting hungry now."

Asana smiled too, and helped Izah to her feet. The two walked back through the old shack and outside into the clearing again. Like before, Asana lifted off the ground followed by her master. They climbed above the treeline then headed back the way they came, facing the city. By this point, the sun was beginning to set, and they both flew at the same speed into the glittering orange, red, and purple skyline.


	8. Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

**A/N:** The chapter is titled off of a song by a band called **The Forecast -** great band. I'd recommend three of their four albums - you can skip the self-titled, but the other three all have incredible songs and each album will have some part or some song that you will relate to.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Clear Eyes, Full Hearts**

* * *

After the rest of the workday, Bathory, Negati, and Arin met back up at their house for dinner once again. The mood seemed cordial enough given the events that happened earlier in the sparring match, though without context, Bathory's question about if Arin poisoned his food or not was met with only confusion from Negati. It was obviously supposed to be a joke, but Bathory seemed a bit out of it all dinner long and Negati knew something was on his mind. She let it go, though. Bathory would come to her by himself if it was something he needed guidance with.

Later on, after they had cleaned everything up and the place was quiet again, Bathory found himself tentatively standing in the opening to the kitchen, watching Arin finish putting everything back. Bathory knew the two of them needed to talk, but it was easier to delay for a bit longer while Arin still had something to do. When the taller mage was all finished up, though, Bathory sighed to himself and stepped forward.

"Hey, Arin?"

Arin turned to face him, and Bathory continued.

"I…uhh, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead," was all the other man said. Arin walked over while the shorter man paused again, hands firmly clasped in front of him.

"So…" Bathory said, "about earlier today. Umm, there's obviously some things I was trying to do but, yeah, maybe I kinda pushed all that on you and maybe that wasn't the best thing I could have done."

"It did feel like I had no say in the matter, and it was not a pleasant experience knowing that."

Bathory chuckled lightly and looked down at the floor for a second.

"Yeah, probably not. So, I guess I should probably get your input on this as well. That's probably for the best."

"What do you mean?"

"So, for example, I'm trying to stay involved here – I mean, I still am, look at us now – but maybe I should ask if you want that in the first place. Like, do you want more space? Do you maybe just want some time to figure it out yourself? And, like, if you do want more space, how much then?"

Arin crossed his arms and looked off to the side. He held his blank face and blank eyes, the same way he looked usually. He took a couple seconds thinking the questions over.

"Space…" he muttered.

Bathory could only watch, confused at the simple statement.

"So, is that a yes? Or is that a 'I need more details'?"

"No, I understand your offer fully. I am used to interaction with you and Negati during this time of day as part of our daily routines. Putting space between you and I may be an option worth testing."

There was another soft chuckle from Bathory at the sheer roboticness of the answer, though Bathory quickly silenced it.

"Okay, then Negati and I could maybe leave you alone for a bit. I'm sure she and I can come up with something to do in the city."

Arin's head turned again, and now he seemed to focus on something in particular.

"Or perhaps the opposite would be a better test," he said. "I shall leave the two of you alone and distance myself from the place of my usual routine."

He walked in the direction he was looking, away from Bathory and over to a set of keys that were resting on top of a cabinet. They were car keys. Not breaking stride, he grabbed the keys and went for his shoes next. During that, Bathory was still trying to speak to Arin.

"Oh, but Arin, uhh, okay, that's not what I was thinking but I guess that's fine."

"It is something worth testing out, as I mentioned."

"W-well okay, then where are you going?"

"I will decide that on the way."

Arin had gotten his shoes on and pulled open the front door, stepping out onto the porch. resting below a dark night sky. He continued moving, and Bathory ran out onto the porch as Arin left it.

"Arin, when are you coming back then? I mean, I can leave the door unlocked, but-"

Arin stopped and turned back around to address Bathory.

"You are pushing yourself onto my decision quite a lot for someone who is letting me have space. I will not be too long, and that is all I can say."

He resumed walking to the driveway, and Bathory conceded that his friend was right. As Arin got in the driver seat and started one of the two cars, Bathory just stood on the porch, watching the scene happen. As the car backed out of the driveway and took off, Bathory tried to wave goodbye but just held his hand up in a half-defeated gesture. Then, he lowered his arm and reached for Aphelion, which still hung from the back of his right hand. He sighed, and absent-mindedly he swung the dark green gem around the back of his hand and up into his cupped palm, first one way, then the other. During all this, he didn't even notice Negati had been out on the porch, sitting to the left of the door on a short bench that acted, along with a couple chairs, as part of the outdoor furniture.

A basic storage device rested next to her, projecting a holographic screen where she was finishing up her work for the day. She had been mostly focusing on it, glancing up at Arin's departure before resuming her work. It was chilly out, as another late cold wave was lingering around past when it should have. Negati had on a pair of pants and above that she had also put on a light red wool sweater. It clung tightly to her body and arms, keeping away the cold air.

A second or two later, Bathory sighed again and looked down at the other mage.

"Negati?"

Negati looked back up.

"Hmm?"

Bathory paused another second. It was obvious that something was on his mind.

"Can I…can I sit down and-"

Negati laughed lightly and interrupted him.

"Bathory, you don't need my permission. Come on."

Bathory also responded with a chuckle but his was hushed and hidden behind his teeth. As he went to sit down on the couch as well, Negati closed the screen in front of her and it disappeared. Her boyfriend sat down, but not particularly close to her. He also shifted to face slightly away from her. He probably didn't even know he was doing it, but Negati knew him well enough to pick up on these signs.

"So what's going on? What were you and Arin talking about?"

Bathory sighed a third time and crossed his arms.

"Well, I asked him if maybe he wanted more space than I'd been giving him. I gave him the offer and he kinda just took off. I was hoping to talk it out a little more."

Negati took a quiet breath and shifted to face Bathory.

"Did you learn anything? Do you know what might be bugging him?"

Bathory chuckled but continued to face straight ahead.

"Aside from that device on his arm? I think it's me, honestly. I don't think he wants anyone trying to pry into his business. That's probably it."

"So do you know that for certain? Does he want to think about it on his own or does he want to get away from us?

Negati waited for Bathory's answer, but it didn't come quickly. When it did, Bathory's shoulders sagged, as if he knew what response this answer would bring.

"I don't know. We didn't get to that point."

"Well, that sounds like a conversation you two need to have when he gets back," said Negati. "You can't do much without knowing that."

Bathory nodded lightly. He finally looked over at Negati and met her eyes, which stared at him sternly. She meant what she said, and Bathory knew that. He turned back, looking out in front of himself again.

"You're right, Negati. You're right."

Now, it was Negati's turn to pause before speaking. She was shifting gears completely, and while she wasn't nervous, she just wanted to say the right words.

"Bathory," she said, "I'm changing the subject, but there's something that I've been thinking about recently... I'm still thinking about when I, or maybe we, should go on vacation."

The brown-haired man shifted back over to face her.

"Huh?"

Negati tilted her chin back and looked up into the sky.

"Yeah…I think we've been conservative enough that we can go off-planet."

Bathory instantly perked up. He turned to face her.

"Negati, I – I thought we'd talk about activities, not destination!"

Negati lowered her head again and faced back to Bathory.

"Bathory, we've been here almost two solid years on Nemelendelle. I don't think any of that time was wasted – I mean, we all basically started over and it took some time for us to figure everything out..."

She smiled and held Bathory's left hand with her own and interlocked her fingers with his before continuing.

"But still, it's about that time where it might be fun to take a week or two and do something different."

Bathory paused for a second and turned again. He had to think about this as well, then.

"Oh…" he said. "So what are you thinking?"

"I don't know a ton of other planets off the top of my head. I'd have to do some research. But maybe for part of it or all of it we could go back to Midchilda."

Bathory's blood ran cold. It was a suggestion he truly didn't expect, and brief visions – almost still frames – of his previous interactions with several Midchildan mages played in his mind like a camera reel. He couldn't stop himself from letting out an awkward groan.

"Wow," he said, "I…I dunno…"

"What?" Negati asked. "What's wrong with that?"

Bathory shook his head nervously.

"Negati, I…are…are you sure that's a good idea?"

"…Yes? Bathory, are you worried about what they'd think? If you remember, they basically forgave you before you left! I don't think there'd be any trouble. And besides, don't you want to see how everyone is doing? Don't you want to see Fate again, or maybe Nanoha, or…or the Wolkenritter, or…uhh…hmm, who else – what was her name - oh, maybe Subaru and her family? They might want to know where we ended up."

Something still made Bathory worried about that idea. He began to recede and close up again.

"I mean, Negati, I probably wasn't that important…"

"Bathory, you're missing the point. I think it could be fun to go back there, with a fresh mind, and none of that crap going on from when you and I were there before."

"Maybe. But also…"

"What? Is there something else?"

"Yeah, I…I don't know if I've earned that yet."

There was another moment of silence from both parties. Negati tilted her head to the side.

"What do you mean 'earned that'?"

"On Midchilda, they did everything for me," said Bathory. "Fate, and Nanoha, and everyone else who tried to get me turned around – if it wasn't for them, I don't know where I'd be. Not here, though. That's for sure. But they saved me and gave me another chance to be on the right side of everything again."

"It sounds like it would be good to tell them that. I'm sure they'd be glad to hear about what you've done since then."

"But Negati, that's the thing. I…I feel like first, I need to do the same thing. I need to pass it on. It's like a cycle to me. I should give someone else the same chance that I was given. I don't want to disappoint them."

Negati released Bathory's hand and clasped hers together, resting her chin on top of them.

"Do you think they wouldn't be happy with how you are now?"

Impassioned, the response came quickly from Bathory, though he still directed his speech at the open air.

"We were given this opportunity, Negati – we've made the most of it, but it was planned out and presented to us. What have I done that is above and beyond just reintegration? What have I done that only I could do, and only here, because they gave me this opportunity?"

They both paused again. Negati couldn't tell what Bathory expected for an answer, or when he expected to hear it. She didn't like the way this was going, though. Her hands lowered, and she spoke sternly once again.

"Bathory, I know what you're doing. You're overthinking things."

With a slight turn back, Bathory addressed his partner.

"You really think so?"

"Yes, I do. Come on, I'll tell you what to do. Come over here."

Until now, there had been that gap between the two mages. Negati reached her arm out and held the back of Bathory's head. She pulled gently, and Bathory followed, leaning over until his head rested on her right shoulder. She cradled it with her right arm and played with his hair.

"Here's what I think," she said. "I think they just wanted you to get better than you were. I think they were pleased when you stopped being so absolutely, completely crazy."

Bathory laughed again.

"Wow, mean," he said.

"Accurate."

"True."

"And it's not just your job now to make things better for everyone. It's the TSAB's job. I think you earned the right to be on Midchilda as soon as you started listening to them. Does that make sense?"

Bathory closed his eyes, smiled, and nodded. Negati continued to ruffle Bathory's hair while a light gust of wind blew through the trees nearby. There was the sound of leaves and branches blowing against each other, a small symphony that rattled and hummed its own percussive line over the course of several seconds. When that had died down, Bathory finally spoke up again.

"Negati?"

"Hmm?"

"How are you so smart?"

Negati smiled brightly and chuckled.

"Bathory…"

"How did you get such a good head on your shoulders?"

Negati knew it was cheesy but she still smiled. She pressed Bathory's head against her shoulder a little harder.

"Oh, Bathory, you're hopeless."

Again, Bathory just smiled and nodded, letting out a small murmur in agreement. Negati seemed to notice something, though, and turned her head to look at him. Bathory's body was still leaning over from its original position at quite an angle.

"Bathory…are you comfortable?"

Again, the man smiled. He shook his head this time, though.

"Not exactly."

"Well you should've said something. Come on, scoot in, nothing to fear."

She released Bathory from her grip and the man scooted over until he was then sitting right next to his girlfriend. Both of them were fully upright now and Bathory wrapped his arm around Negati's back.

"There," she said, "is that better?"

"Yeah," replied Bathory. "But actually…"

Suddenly, he twisted to face her and put his right arm around her chest before leaning back. He pulled Negati with him and as he fell back onto the bench. Negati let out a high-pitched cry as the two went down, and she shut her eyes and giggled through her tightly-clenched teeth. It was all considerably more girly than she normally was, and Bathory loved it. The bench wasn't long enough to hold Bathory's entire body, so as his head rested, pushed up against one armrest, his legs dangled over the other end at his knees.

Normally Negati led their conversations and made the plans but Bathory still loved it when he could surprise her. She never stayed off guard, though, and quickly she shifted up, staring down at him eye to eye. They were incredibly close to each other – only a couple inches apart. Negati's head took up Bathory's whole view as his eyes were locked on hers, unable to look away. As Bathory kept his arms locked around Negati's back, she reached up and put a hand behind Bathory's head.

"Well," she said, "I guess I'm not finishing my work now, huh?"

"Oh," muttered Bathory, "right, you were doing something, sorry about that."

"No, no, no, it doesn't matter. I've got time."

Negati shut her eyes and pulled Bathory's head up to meet her lips, kissing him quickly before lowering him back down. She opened her eyes and spoke again.

"So Bathory, here's what you're going to do. You listening?"

She waited for an affirmative response before pulling him up again for another quick kiss. When he dropped back, Negati continued.

"You'll think about what I just said and maybe we can talk in the morning. We don't need to make any decisions now but the idea is sticking around in my head. Got it?"

Bathory gave another nod, but he remained where he was. Above him, Negati smiled again.

"Good. You're such a great listener, Bathory. And just so I know you'll remember…"

With her other hand, she pushed against the seat and slowly moved her head down to Bathory's neck. Bathory's eyes followed her, widening as he knew what was coming up next.

"Negati…" he whispered, "you don't need to-"

The redhead lowered down to the base of Bathory's neck and then let out a breath of hot air, trailing a path back up it in one fluid motion. Bathory tensed up, lightly pressing his fingers into the back of Negati's sweater. He exhaled as well, but his breath was caught in almost an outward gasp and it shuddered as it came out. When Negati stopped, she returned to her original position as Bathory's eyes were still shut tightly and his brain still recovered.

"Negati…" he murmured, "you…I…I'd do anything for you…"

The redhead smiled again, pushing some of her hair off Bathory's face as it fell down below her.

"Aww, that's so sweet."

She cradled Bathory's head again as she pulled him up for a third time. This time they remained there for longer before Bathory was lowered away. He opened his eyes and they were met again by Negati's.

"So…" she asked, "any questions?"

Bathory laid there, thinking. Negati had made sense, and he probably was overthinking all of this, so…oh, wait, there was one question. The question. The one that had been stewing in his mind and was probably long past overdue for being asked. But was this the right moment? To interrupt everything Negati had just spoken about and completely change the subject would probably just be rude. No, no, he needed a different moment. The right time – the perfect time. He'd know when it came. At least, he hoped he would.

Instead, he ran his hands along Negati's sweater, feeling the light wool and how it contoured so closely to her body.

"I love your sweater. When did you get this again?"

Negati chuckled.

"A couple months after we got here, remember?"

"Ah. Right."

With that, Negati pushed herself off of Bathory and stood upright on the porch again. She stretched, holding her arms high above her head. After that, she sighed and looked down at Bathory.

"Well, I need to grab a drink. You following me in?"

Bathory sat up, but he remained seated after that. He thought about something he might want to quickly do, and looked up at Negati, shaking his head.

"Give me a couple minutes. I'll be in soon."

Negati understood, and she opened the door, stepping into the house. The door closed behind her and Bathory let his eyes wander back to the scene in front of him. It was night out, but the streetlamps and lights from other houses still illuminated things well enough to see. The road was quiet though, and aside from the light rustling of leaves from small gusts of wind, there was little going on. It was a moment purely to himself, but a moment was all he needed. He raised his right hand up and looked at the dark green gem hanging from the cord wrapped down and around it.

"Aphelion, call dad."

As he unwrapped the cord and laid the gem on the seat in between his legs, it lit up and pulsed as it responded to the order.

[SINCE YOUR PRIOR CONVERSATION WITH HIM, CALLS TO OLD MASTER HAVE AN ANSWER RATE OF ZERO PERCENT – ARE YOU SURE YOU WISH TO TRY AGAIN]

Bathory slumped over and rested his elbows on his legs.

"He never picks up, but still, I know they get there. I need to leave a message. Maybe he deletes them, I don't know, but maybe not. Maybe he watches them. And maybe one of these days, he'll answer when I call."

[AFFIRMATIVE – BEGINNING TRANSMISSION]

A rectangular screen appeared in front of Bathory, showing the placeholder image of the TSAB logo as a 3D badge that rotated slowly as the request went on. A dialing sound played, over and over and over and over until it was long past when someone may have answered. Bathory knew he'd be leaving another message. As Aphelion gave the standard notice that a message would be recorded, Bathory quickly dropped his head in his hands and clenched his hair in them tightly. His knuckles shook and were turning white, but Bathory released his grip and looked back up right before the recording started. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and he even began with a smile. As he stared at the screen, he saw the picture his father would see, if it were actually viewed.

"Hey dad," he started, "it's me again. It's…uhh…early May, year 78. I'm still on Nemelendelle, still with Negati and Arin…well actually, Negati just talked to me about maybe taking a trip somewhere, maybe going on vacation. She was thinking of going off planet, like, pulling out all the stops, maybe we could do like a resort-type deal, or she's thinking of maybe going back to Midchilda. That still kind of scares me a bit, but Negati says there's nothing to be afraid of, and she always knows what she's talking about, so…huh, maybe I need to trust her on this as well."

Bathory chuckled, but it was in an attempt to hold something back. He had an idea all of a sudden, and as much as it would pain him to put it out there, as he knew it would probably never even be heard, he had to ask it.

"I mean, there's…we're not going on Siba again, that's obvious, but we might be somewhere that's….that's easier to get to than here. If we're in Midchilda for a bit, or somewhere else that's got a popular hub, we won't really be that far away. It'll just be a quick teleport over and I'd be there to see you. You know, in case you miss me and want to see me again. I know I'd want to see you, if you were willing to make it."

He looked away for a moment to take a deep breath. He knew his voice was starting to warble and his eyes were getting a little hazy.

"So…so if that sounds good, then – then call me back, please, and we can arrange something. I mean, I'll set the time, and place, and everything, and you just have to get off of Siba. Actually, I don't think you've met Negati yet – well, not in person; if you do watch these, I know you've seen her. You two need to meet. We need to meet. There…there's probably so much we could talk about. Anyways, that's it. Like I said, if you hear this, and…and you think it's time, then call me back. I've still got Aphelion. I think it's time. I think it's long past time. Just…yeah, yeah, that's it, see you later dad."

Bathory reached out and touched the screen, ending the call. The preview image dropped away, revealing the TSAB logo again before the whole screen disappeared.

When it did, Bathory's head fell back and he stared up into the night sky. Quiet and resigned, he muttered to himself.

"Just pick up once. I need your help. How'd you do any of this? I've got so many things I still want to ask…"

He sat up straight again and clapped his hands once, symbolizing the end of that experience. Wordlessly, he wrapped the cord of Aphelion back around his right wrist and lower arm, letting it dangle next to his fingers once again. Still wordlessly, he stood up and pushed through the front door as well.

* * *

Arin drove past the streetlights, his constant speed and their constant distance from one light to the next providing a pulse that seemed to match his own. A modern song played over the radio – one that had found popularity on some of the major hubs of the TSAB and as such found its way over here. Around him, traffic was thinning out as the night pushed on. Most people on the road were probably heading back to their homes instead of from them. On the sidewalks, there were the rare sightings of other people, and when there was a group out and about they were always of a younger, more mischievous age. Nemelendelle didn't have many massive skyscrapers or incredible destinations but enough brightly lit signs still passed by Arin to suspend themselves overhead, playing off each other and the darkened sky to pass as stage lights for a modernist three-act musical: the quiet streets and open spaces acting as the sets; the nightlife that did come out with the setting sun as the audience; a brass band of insects and birds calling out to the open air, sometimes connecting with each other to form a deep and cycled rhythm, and sometimes rising high above the rest, the song of some love-seeking bird, like a woman in white singing a passionate falsetto, crooning her voice to the wind, spilling her love to the far-away seas; a sweet and subtle symphony for the peaceful planet.

All of this passed Arin by, though. He simply looked for an efficient line through the streets of the central part of the city. He passed by the market, where the lower-key nature of the planet and the comradery of the people meant that grassroots farmers came out on the weekends with the spoils of their small backyard gardens or side hobbies. Next, there was another normally busy area – a public park with an amphitheater in the middle, featuring again some recurring acts and some one-off events built around community involvement for those settling on Nemelendelle as part of a second chance. Then, further down the street was the central complex of the planetary TSAB itself, again usually brimming with activity but now only home to night crews and a random scattering of other mages who had something to do at this hour.

All these areas bustling in the daytime but now almost empty. How much of this was Arin's choosing, to drive past these locations when he was at his most alone, and how much of this was just circumstance?

Driving along to the playlist of the radio, Arin got through the city center and drove out past the homes and local businesses around the outside rim. The street he was on was still a step up above residential side-roads, as he was now on the street that would take him straight out of town and on the road to the spaceport found a couple miles from the city's edge. He didn't intend to cross the border, but this location was on his mind. Almost the entire city away from where Bathory and Negati were, he now had as much space as he could possibly get from those two.

Right at the last street crossing before the road became solely a path out to the travel hub, Arin slowed to a stop and shut the car off. He got out, and as the headlights dimmed and faded, he sat down on the hood of the car and stared into the distance. The top lights of the control towers could just be seen over the horizon as a small spaceship, nothing more than probably a cargo vessel, shot up and across the sky in front of the starry backdrop. Arin looked up at it but didn't seem to process anything more than a purely visual element of the scene, and a couple seconds went by where he sat, silent and unmoving. Finally, he broke the silence with a question.

"And what am I to do now that I have found this 'space'?"

In his pocket, his device began to glow and pulse with enough energy to alert its master.

[NEW CALL INITIATED FROM – USER – ERATARKA]

Arin pulled the grey gem out from his pocket and looked at it. He let it pulse a couple times before responding.

"Retrigal, answer."

The device projected a screen in front of Arin and on it was Captain Eratarka. She looked to be out of her uniform, and she had a plain white shirt on. Her hair wasn't held up in a ponytail anymore and it seemed to hang down with little care put into it.

"Mister Vesceron," she said, addressing the camera directly, "this is Captain Eratarka."

"I understand that," replied Arin.

During the short time the call had been going, Arin continued to look at the clues given in her video screen. She seemed to be sitting on a beige couch and the wall behind the couch didn't seem to have any decorations. It was a plain color, often that of a default house before possible renovations or of an apartment. Along with what was behind Eratarka though was what crept up onto the very lower part of the camera feed – the top of a rim, as if she was holding a container of something in her lap.

Eratarka fiddled with the screen a bit.

"I'm calling you because your tracker says you're right out at the border of the city. You're not thinking of taking off, are you?"

Arin raised his hand up and looked at the device locked around his wrist. He looked back at the screen and shook his head.

"No, Captain, I am not."

"Because if you don't remember, let me remind you of the conditions of your service. You're not arrested and you won't be detained. But you do have to stay here, close by, until I feel you have made up for what you did."

Arin stared at the device again. It taunted him. Even if it was just a position tracker and did nothing else, it still led to moments like this – invasions of his privacy when he expected to have more than ever.

"Captain, I assure you that I am not breaking your rule."

"Well, you're pretty close there. You looking for something to do? I got a couple movies I can recommend ya."

Eratarka reached into the container and pulled up a handful of fluffy white pellets that she popped into her mouth. Was that popcorn?

Arin cocked his head to the side.

"Movies?"

Immediately, Eratarka's demeanor loosened and she lost her authoritative edge.

"Yeah, yeah, it's movie night over here at my place! Movie night for me and…well, just me actually, but hey, that means I don't have to share the snacks."

She scooped up another handful of popcorn and began to chew on it. She continued speaking.

"Tonight I was feeling kinda like watching a chick flick. I know it's trashy but sometimes a girl's gotta root for her fellow girl!"

Arin simply crossed his arms in front of him as Eratarka took in another serving of popcorn.

"Apologies," he said, "but this does not sound like my preferred type of entertainment."

"Ehh, that's fine. But it works on me. Trust me, I know what I'm getting into and I still know I'm gonna start crying when they break up later for, like, five minutes."

Arin cocked his head again.

"Captain, you may be providing me with more information that you intended to."

Eratarka nodded. She put the snacks down and sighed, then looked at the screen again.

"Well, as long as you don't make a run for it, there's nothing to worry about. But still, I got the notification and I had to check up on it. Understood, Mister Vesceron?"

Arin nodded.

"Understood, Captain."

"Then like before, I will contact you as I see fit with any new developments. Goodbye."

Eratarka reached forward and touched the screen, ending the call. The screen faded from in front of Arin and it was just him and the car and the silent landscape around him once again. He tossed the grey gem repeatedly into the air, letting it fall back into his hand before tossing it again.

"While I am here, it would be best to lay out the facts regarding my current situation. With those, I should be able to determine a course of action to resolve the conflict."

As it twirled in the air, the gem pulsed with light and responded back to its master.

[I BELIEVE THAT IS A FINE COURSE OF ACTION]

Arin caught the gem and held it this time, looking at the other device locked onto his arm.

"I am here because I did not conform to the Captain's expectations. Meeting those are the only way she will be pleased and I will be released. That is obviously the top priority at this instant."

He kept his focus on the device, wondering how much attention Eratarka was paying to it. Obviously she noticed he had taken this journey, but how often did she check it? How much did she monitor him? And could she get anything else from the transmission? How much did she know about his life?

Arin closed his eyes. He spoke in his usual monotone.

"She does not know what to do with me. She does not know how to respond to me. Nobody does, not even those who I share my living space with. What do they truly think about me?"

[THEY DO NOT HAVE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS – THEY ARE ALL TRYING TO CONNECT]

"Their attempts are clouded by their own worry and fear. I am unlike any other human with my faults, and they do not know how to act. They do not trust me as much as they try and make it seem."

Arin looked back up.

"The woman – Izah – I told her my thoughts and she told me I was out of the ordinary. I believe she used profane language to accomplish her goal but the point was still clearly understood. Upon completion of her assessment, I agreed with her. She, and her relatives, and everybody else here on this planet is not impeded with the same burdens and limitations that are put upon me. Their fullness and complexity – that human nature – bonds them with others who share and thrive in differing viewpoints and opinions, separate from one another yet still with the prospect of enhancement and enrichment of others' lives. I know what that is like – as I used to have my full potential – but now I could not even fake it if I attempted to."

Arin clenched his teeth together. He gripped Retrigal tightly, and his hand started to shake and turn white from the pressure. His familiar emotion coursed through his mind and body again.

"They do not understand, and they do not trust me. They will expect me to fail. I know that the Captain expects me to fail. I know that I am a constant thorn in the story of this planet and its people. I am an outlier in this story of hope. What do they expect to get from me? I will not change because I cannot change. I really am well and truly 'fucked.' "

Suddenly, Retrigal activated in his hand. The grey staff shot out to the left and right and the set of energy glaives formed at the ends. Deliberately, Arin moved off the hood of the car and took a couple of steps forward. He raised the staff up high, and with an impassioned grunt, he drove the staff down so one set of blades pierced into the ground. He kept his grip on it, still inhaling and exhaling through clenched teeth for several seconds. With his expression of emotion satisfied, he stood up straight, his hand simply resting against the staff that had driven itself into the dirt far enough to support its frame. After another deep breath, Arin pulled the weapon back out of the ground.

"And that is where I must surprise them. I cannot allow others to control and determine my actions here. I cannot be a passenger to someone else's decisions."

Retrigal deactivated and Arin put the gem in his pocket. He turned around and faced the car.

"If my fate rests on Izah's recovery, then her recovery should rest in my hands. I should have a say in this matter and I should make it happen as soon as I can. I understand what I need to do and I will act upon it at the next opportunity."

[VERY GOOD - IT IS GETTING LATE - WE SHALL RETURN NOW]

Arin opened the front door of the car and sat in the driver's seat again. He turned it on, greeted by another song from the radio playing its carefully-constructed melodies to an impassive crowd. Arin drove off, heading back the way he came, relinquishing the space he had gone this far to seek.


	9. By a Thread

**A/N:** As you can see by the scroll-bar, this is a long chapter but a lot happens here and this is where the plot hits its turning point and starts kicking into high-gear. I have line breaks inside the chapter if you hit a point where you have to pause before finishing.

* * *

 _On fire with the maple trees,  
On my knees with these leaves on these Boston streets  
Praying to a God a godforsaken summer night stole  
One night, one fight, one family swallowed whole._

 _Some things just fall apart  
Some families stand like November trees: barren and stark.  
Some things just fall apart  
Some memories continue breaking this cold heart_

…

 _Highways home become oceans that I just can't swim  
And the rusty gates of Eden lock to never let me in._

Have Heart - _Hard Bark on the Family Tree_

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - By a Thread**

* * *

A few days later:

Bathory and Negati were sitting on the couch, looking down at a collection of drawings that were covering the short table in front of them. They were rough sketches outlining and detailing what looked to be a cannon of some type. On several drawings, certain parts of the shape were circled or highlighted, and these parts were what the two mages were focusing on. After some conversation, Bathory gathered the sheets into a pile and rolled them up under his arm. He and Negati got up to leave when Arin opened the front door from the other side, coming back from whatever errands he was running.

"Oh, Arin, hey," said Bathory. The other man stepped into the house and paused, looking at the other two.

"Were you both waiting for me?" he asked.

"Oh, no, no, we were heading out," said Negati.

"Where?"

"Oh, just one of those internal TSAB sessions," said Bathory. "There's some equipment to test, and also in case there are any new upgrades or spells someone wants to try out."

"What Bathory is implying," said Negati, "is that he's got something new we're going to show off."

Bathory held the device form of Aphelion in his hand and looked down at it. Arin also followed his gaze to the dark green gem.

"Are you expecting to engage in combat soon?" he asked.

"No," said Bathory. "I mean, this is something that's just been on my mind recently, and Aphelion and I want to see if it's possible."

Arin remained in place, though he looked back up at the other two.

"Who will be in attendance?"

"Umm…" said Negati, "Well, this isn't really a public event but you're invited, if that's what you're asking."

"Administrative personnel," clarified Arin. "What of them?"

Bathory was a bit confused. Arin was being fairly forward about this.

"Probably some groups, you know, from a couple divisions. A few supervisors, obviously-"

"What about the Captain?" asked Arin, interrupting Bathory.

Negati also was a bit hesitant to speak, her eyes darting back and forth between Bathory's and Arin's a few times.

"Y…yeah, maybe. Maybe for a part of it. Why? You wanna talk to her again?"

This answer seemed to satisfy Arin. He stepped out of the way, responding as he did.

"I would not have any updates for her at the moment."

He took his shoes off, and the other two took this as a sign that he was staying home. As Bathory opened the door to head through, he paused and looked back at his friend.

"Well, if you change your mind, like we said, you're invited. Otherwise, see you later."

He and Negati walked outside and he shut the door. To the muffled sound of footsteps heading off the porch, Arin sat down and put his hands together. He began to think, first silently and then out loud, detailing his thoughts to his device.

"The Captain may be there, as well as a representation of officers. As I stated, conversations with her will go nowhere as I have not made further progress on monitoring Izah Lumiere, and Izah has not made further public appearances past our initial meeting. From the records held by the TSAB, Izah appears delayed in her reintegration, and the Captain expressed an interest in seeing her."

Arin reached in his pocket and pulled the grey gem out, holding his device and looking down at it.

"Retrigal, what if I made that happen?"

The gem pulsed with dim lights as it spoke.

[YOU ARE IMAGINING THE BENEFITS OF TAKING ACTION AT THIS INSTANCE]

"Yes, I am. If I do nothing, then nothing will get done. If I wait, I may not have such an opportunity in the near future. I will bring Izah to the Captain and accelerate her reintegration myself. Surely that will be worth something in the Captain's eyes."

Arin stood up, motivated to put his plan into effect immediately. However, Retrigal began to pulse again, and its master paused to listen.

[YOU ARE MAKING THE ASSUMPTION THAT SHE WILL AGREE TO ACCOMPANY YOU – WHAT WILL YOU DO IF SHE DOES NOT]

Arin stared at the gem for a couple seconds and then squeezed his hand around it.

"She will agree to it. I know she will."

Without further discussion, Arin prepared to leave and then headed out, taking the second car. He remembered the location of the Lumiere household and soon he was taking the familiar route. It was daytime, and the activity on the sidewalks and front lawns contrasted with his drive from several nights ago. Though, like with that trip, he eventually headed away from the busier elements of the city until the shops turned to houses and the houses became more distant from each other. He knew the landmarks from before and he followed the familiar roads until he was driving up to the Lumiere house and parking next to the beaten-up white van that didn't seem like it had even been moved since last time he was here.

He got out of the car, shut the door, and walked up to the front door. There was no pause, no time spent thinking about what to say or how to say it. It was obvious to him.

He knocked on the door and waited. After a couple seconds, he heard activity on the other side and the door opened slightly, just enough for someone to poke their head through.

Arin's eyes drifted downwards as the younger brother of Izah was on the other side of the entryway. They immediately were locked in a staring match. Vaele obviously wasn't freaking out just upon glancing at Arin but he wasn't giving the warmest reception either. Finally, the boy responded.

"…oh. What do you want?"

"I am here to speak with Izah. Will you let me in?"

Vaele broke eye contact and looked over to the side.

"Um…Asana?" he asked. "Is…is Izah-"

He was cut off by another voice and what sounded like mad dashing across the floor.

"It's him, isn't it!"

Asana slid into view in her human form, standing behind Vaele and leaning slightly over him to address the visitor. She didn't seem happy. Her ears were perked back and she glared at the man.

"You! Are you just going to show up whenever you feel like it?"

"I am here to discuss a matter with your master."

"I don't think you should get to see Miss Izah after the last time you were here."

Further back in the house, there was the sound of a door opening up and someone walking across the carpeted floor.

"I'm up, I'm up," muttered Izah. "Who is it?"

She stopped behind Asana, her head peeking over her familiar's, and she grabbed the door, pulling it open more for their guest. She paused, though, when she saw who it was, and then she slowly pushed the door partly shut again. She wasn't as angry as Asana was, but she definitely wasn't happy about seeing the unexpected guest either.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"The TSAB is currently holding an exercise. I believe it would be in our best interests if you made an appearance."

Izah sighed.

"Whatever. I'll think about it. Bye."

She went to shut the door but Arin stuck his foot in the doorway, blocking her attempt. He never broke eye contact with the air mage. When she resumed glaring at him, he continued.

"You can travel with me to the event, where you will make various small talk with our commanding officer before returning to your home."

"Or?" asked Izah.

"We both know plainly what will happen otherwise. I will voice my concerns about your behavior and that more is going on behind what you showed to us. Instead of a conversation you may be able to prepare for, more Bureau officers will be knocking unexpectedly on your door, as I am doing now. For your sake as well as mine, Izah, open the door."

They continued staring at each other. Asana also glared daggers at the tall mage while Vaele looked up at his sister, confused. He didn't know what Arin was talking about – he wasn't there when Arin revealed his original leverage. Soon, Izah began to shake, and she shut her eyes tightly. Then, she backed off and opened the door.

"Very well. G...give me a minute."

She walked off to go to her room and clean up. She looked like a mess and she knew she would probably continue looking like one, but she would have to try and hide that as much as she could.

Arin took a step into the house, watching Izah head to her room. When she shut her bedroom door behind her, Arin's gaze drifted over to the other two, who had moved to the side to let him in. Asana still looked unhappy, and she bared her teeth in defiance. Again, Vaele seemed confused.

" _Asana,_ " he asked telepathically, " _what's wrong? Why did he say that? Why are you and Izah like that?"_

" _Because,"_ replied Asana telepathically as well, " _he knows. He knows something about Miss Izah's condition."_

" _What? How? How much?"_

" _I don't know. Miss Izah doesn't know. But it's enough."_

Vaele understood, and he also got angry. He shot back to face Arin.

"Whatever you're making her do, I'm going with."

Arin looked down at the younger boy.

"This matter only concerns your sister – you do not need to get involved."

"I don't care. I'm coming with."

"We both are," said Asana. "We won't let you lay a finger on Miss Izah."

Arin shrugged.

"Very well."

In Izah's room, she picked up clothes from the scattered mess on her floor that would work better for a public appearance. She placed the standby form of her device in her pocket and put on a light jacket over her shirt. After changing, she went to leave her room, but she practically froze in place as a thought came to her mind. She was fine now, but depending on her stress levels and depending on the time this would take, she might start to hurt. The effects of going too long without her medication might appear. It would be awful for that to happen while in company – especially with how much she needed to hide it. No one could figure out her dependency.

Her eyes darted down to the unlabeled medicine bottle by her bed, sloppily hidden by the corner of a blanket. It hit her suddenly that she was going to be in a much more uncomfortable situation than she'd so far had to face on this planet. A bunch of thoughts started running through her head, like a floodgate had been opened. Did she need her pills? Did she need to bring them? How many did she need? Why couldn't she just stop? How obvious would it be? How well could she deal with them? How would she possibly deal without them?

Rapidly, she rushed to the bed and dropped to the floor, reaching for the bottle. She grabbed it and twisted off the cap then poured the contents into her hand. Due to the frantic nature of her actions, a couple pills dropped from her palm down to the floor, but she didn't pay attention. She looked at the gathering that was in her hand. Even though she only needed one at a time, just seeing her supply made her feel more relieved. And even in her current, more lucid state, if she was that nervous at the thought of separating from the pills and this relieved at just knowing they were there, she knew she had to bring them with her.

Letting out a deep sigh, Izah turned her hand and dropped the pills back into the bottle. She put a cotton ball in the bottle as well to reduce the noise, then reached for the cap and closed it tightly again. She stood up, placing the small bottle in her pocket where she hoped no one would notice it. She finally left the room, with a few small pills still laying on the floor where she had dropped them.

She walked back to the front door and stood in front of Arin. With a resigned sigh and one last quick run of her hand through her hair, she spoke to the man.

"Alright then. Let's get going."

Arin nodded, and stepped back through the door, turning to walk toward the car. Asana and Vaele looked up at Izah.

"Don't worry, Miss Izah, we'll be with you," said her familiar.

"Yeah," said Vaele, "if he tries to do anything stupid, I've got your back."

Izah smiled.

"Well, it sounds like we might just have to fake it for a little bit. But still, Asana, Vaele, thank you."

The two returned her smile, and the pleasant mood lasted for a few steps as they left the house. But as they got closer to Arin and his car, their smiles faded and they simply responded with reserved silence. Izah got in the front passenger seat, and Asana and Vaele got in the back seat. Silent as well, Arin started the car and turned it around, heading out the way he came. Izah, Asana, and Vaele all looked out their respective windows, too uncomfortable to say anything. It was a strange feeling, being basically kidnapped to do as this strange emotionless man wills them to do. Even though they got to sit freely rather than lay tied up in the trunk, it was still a very disturbing, uncomfortable, even scary feeling.

Arin pulled out Retrigal and spoke.

"Retrigal, contact Bathory."

[CONTACTING]

A screen appeared, facing towards Arin from the side. None of the other passengers in the car were visible. After a few seconds, Bathory's face filled up the screen as he answered.

"Hey, Arin, what's up?"

"Have you confirmed the Captain's presence at your event?"

"Yeah, yeah, Eratarka's here. You want me to bring this over to her?"

"No. I will be there myself shortly. Though, let her know that I will have somebody of interest along with me."

Bathory smiled lightly at the strange statement.

"Alright. Uhh, see you in a bit."

Arin nodded and ended the call.

* * *

After a nearly-silent drive that seemed to take much longer than it actually did, Arin arrived at the Nemelendelle Bureau headquarters and parked near the entrance to the training area. He got out, and he stood sternly as his passengers did the same and grouped back together. Izah and Asana looked away from everyone else, a crestfallen look on their faces. The parking lot and Bureau building reminded Vaele of what happened here several days ago and he also seemed hesitant and buried in his own head.

Arin looked at Izah.

"I have prepared you with what you needed to know for the current situation. Please try to appear as if you are excited to be here. I do not wish to appear the arbitrator here, as if I am a prison guard."

Izah chuckled harshly, spitting out her response.

"You'd make a pretty good one."

"Insult taken. We shall get moving now."

Arin led the way, pressing off toward the building while the other three hesitantly followed behind him. As Izah continued staring mostly at the ground, Asana reached over and put her arm around Izah's, holding it tightly.

"Don't worry Miss Izah, Vaele and I won't let anything happen to you."

Izah's hand gripped her device tightly in her pocket.

"And what if I end up blasting this guy into next week?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Asana laughed softly, though her eyebrows furrowed and her response sounded more resigned than she intended it to be.

"It wouldn't be nice to cause a scene, Miss Izah…"

They reached the building, and the automatic doors opened up into the large room. On the other side of the room, there was collection of mages gathered together near the open side of the constructible arena. Most of the people were participants in whatever activity was going on and as such wore basic attire – shirts, shorts, athletic shoes – instead of their official uniforms. There were a few who were in uniform, though, including a woman near the foreground of the group with purple hair, tied high in a single ponytail that fell in several thick, wavy sections down to her back. She was currently engaged in a conversation with two others that Izah remembered from the Bureau visit that Arin was a part of. They were the other two in that party – Bathory and Negati, if she remembered right.

As Arin led the group closer to the action, the three mages in front of them noticed the group and looked over. Bathory had been speaking to Eratarka, but when he recognized who was alongside Arin, he stopped, almost mid-word, and turned to face the group.

"Wow," he said smiling, "I did not think that they would be the surprise you mentioned."

As the new arrivals got close, Eratarka stepped forward, her eyes focused on Izah. Arin stepped to the side and Eratarka held out her hand.

"Izah Lumiere," she said, "I don't believe we have spoken yet."

Izah finally released her grip on her device and put on her façade of pleasantry. She smiled as well, completing the handshake and speaking lightly.

"No, we haven't, um…"

"Captain Eratarka, current acting Captain of the Nemelendelle Bureau. I have heard so much about you, and I was wondering when we would finally meet."

Izah laughed softly.

"Yes, I, uhh, I've heard about that when I spoke to the group here."

To the side of the conversation, Bathory walked up next to Arin and lightly tapped him on the arm a couple times with the side of a fist.

"Look at you, man – getting those brownie points. Good stuff."

Izah expected the private conversation to last longer, but Eratarka grabbed Izah's arm and turned around, pulling the air mage forward and addressing the rest of the group at the session.

"Attention!" she yelled. "Everyone, I have an announcement."

The group, which had been somewhat scattered into several pockets all conversing within their own bobbles, all went silent and turned to face the Captain. With her audience now attentive, Eratarka addressed them again.

"Well, it looks like we have a special guest joining us today. She may look unfamiliar to a lot of you – or maybe all of you – but she has been working quietly since she arrived here to come back to the Bureau and help us out here on Nemelendelle."

Eratarka turned to face Izah.

"Do you want to introduce yourself? If needed, I think I could do it well enough."

Izah sighed and stepped forward. She wasn't expecting to give a speech or anything and she nervously brushed some of her light orange hair off the side of her face with her hand.

"Umm, hi everyone, my name is Izah Lumiere. I…uh, I'm from the planet Amber, if you know that world, but I'm here, right now, on this planet, obviously."

Asana rushed up to stand alongside her master. Again, she wrapped her arms around one of Izah's, gripping it tightly. Her ears twitched as well as her tail, and she sounded genuinely excited.

"And I'm Asana!" she cried happily. "Good to meet you."

Izah coughed nervously and looked at the fox girl.

"Yeah, and this is my familiar, Asana."

Eratarka nodded, but soon she took over again.

"But there is something very special about Ms. Lumiere, and that is why we are very excited to get her help. Izah, you are…?"

Izah faced Eratarka again. The Captain looked on with an anticipating expression, obviously expecting Izah to finish the sentence herself. Izah knew exactly what the crowd was wanting to hear, and with another sigh, she obliged.

"I'm…I'm a Triple-A air mage."

There were murmurs among the crowd, excited but subdued at the same time. Izah looked away nervously from the group, staring out at the wall to her side. It was crazy, she thought. Before her injury, she would have reveled in the attention, absolutely loved it, but now she was almost embarrassed. They'd all get ideas. Questions. Expectations. Things she knew she couldn't answer or meet, and didn't want to in the first place.

Dammit, why didn't she just stand her ground and remove that bullish freak from her door earlier? Why did she give in to this and follow along with his wishes like a slave?

A firm hand slamming down on her shoulder tore her back to the present and almost made her shudder. It was Eratarka's hand, and the Captain finished addressing the crowd.

"So, I think soon we will be seeing more of Izah and her family around these parts. Be nice, be friendly, and yeah, I think we're all excited to see what she can do when she returns."

There was more acknowledgment and cheering from the crowd, and Izah forced another smile.

"Now, back to the matter at hand" said Eratarka. "Who's next? Who's got something to show now?"

Behind her, Bathory stepped forward.

"Well, Captain, I was waiting for Arin to show up and see what he was bringing, so since we're all here now…"

"Are you volunteering, Master Sergeant?"

"Sure, why not. Negati, you ready?"

Negati also stepped up from behind.

"Sure. Give 'em the speech."

Bathory laughed.

"The speech…uhh, well, I don't have a speech or anything, just, if you've worked with me, you've seen my device, Aphelion…"

Bathory held up his right hand with the green gem hanging from the tips of his fingers.

"…and you've probably seen the basics of what it can do. Aphelion, Standard Form, go!"

[TRANSFORMING]

The gem began to glow and it transformed into the familiar weapon around Bathory's right wrist, with a smaller gauntlet around his left. Bathory twisted his arm around, showing Aphelion off to crowd.

"And then you also might know it's got a little something extra if I need to go real-close-up, like hand to hand. Aphelion, Razor Form!"

Out of the groove on the side of the main part of the weapon, several large, curved, green blades of energy formed. Bathory showed this off from several angles as well.

"So these are the regular forms I use and probably all you've seen or really needed to see. But, there's something extra that Aphelion and I can do, something I designed a while back, back when I was on Siba and a member of one of their Breach Teams, along with Arin."

He quickly pointed his arm back at his friend and former teammate.

"And recently, I've made some modifications to it that I'm here to try out. So, if you're ready…"

Bathory shifted, putting his rear foot behind him and shifting his weight onto it. He had his right elbow cocked back with his palm facing forward, like if he were setting up for strike arts, and his left hand low.

"Aphelion, Breach Form! Go!"

[TRANSFORMING]

His device glowed brightly again to until it was impossible to see details, only a silhouette of its form. Soon, the shape began to expand forwards, building itself in front of Bathory's right arm in the shape of a thick cannon as well as forming mass below Bathory's lower arm. Whereas before, Aphelion has wrapped itself entirely around Bathory's lower arm, now the right arm was attached to the very top of the weapon by several grey bands and his hand wrapped around a vertical handle that jutted up from the top. As the front barrel of the device continued extending forward, Bathory reached over with his left hand to grab onto another handle that formed on the left side of the weapon.

Finally, the weapon had formed and the glow receded, revealing a metallic weapon with dark green covers over part of the thicker base and over the entirety of the long barrel as well as the top. Bathory stood there, looking around at the other mages. From the reactions of the crowd and the whispered conversations that started up, it was quite the surprise to see.

After posing for a bit longer, he let go of the horizontal handle and lowered his right arm. The cannon drifted downwards, still solidly attached to its user by the bands around the right arm. It wasn't extremely heavy, and Bathory could tense his arm and keep it supported without having to drag it along the ground.

"I guess that kinda was a speech" said Bathory, laughing. "My bad."

Eratarka walked up to Bathory, checking the weapon out.

"So…" she said, "I presume you use this form for separate purposes than your device's regular ones?"

"Exactly," said Bathory. "As you can tell, I'm trading a lot of my mobility for just, well, all-out power. I don't expect to rush in close with this, or even switch back and forth from this very often."

He raised the weapon back up and held on with his left hand again. Unlike in the standard form, there was only one large firing port, but it still started up and spun around quickly.

"This form is designed to channel my attacks to hit as hard as they can, and it's built to better recirculate some of the airborne mana leftover at the end of a fight as well. Basically, when you know exactly where the enemy is, and you know that they're not going to move, and you need to send them to the floor, that is where Breach Form comes in."

Getting his advertisement out of the way, he spoke more cordially and subdued.

"Obviously it got more use on the front lines of Siba than it does here. But I have it, and I had an idea for how to push it even further. So, without further ado, Negati and I are going to try this out. Speaking of, Negati, can I have some cartridges?"

Bathory held his left hand out and the redhead obliged, placing some charged cartridges into her partner's open palm. Then, Bathory called for his device to load the cartridges, and a slot opened on the side where the mage slid the shells in. The slot closed again, and a green pulse of light spread through the device confirming that they were loaded and ready for use. After that, Bathory looked back at the audience.

"Now, who wants to volunteer to block this?"

He paused, waiting for someone to step up and be the barrier he would test his device on. There were more murmurs among the other offices but nobody was stepping up. Everyone was waiting for someone else to take the offer.

"Come on, people," said Eratarka, "we all gotta help each other out."

Bathory sighed and looked over at the Captain.

"It's fine. I'll make Arin do it. We'd do this to each other back on our team all the time. I'd be his test dummy and then he'd be mine. Or, wait…"

Slowly, Bathory turned to look behind him and Eratarka at the group that had just recently arrived. His eyes settled on a quiet air mage who seemed to be oblivious to the current situation.

"Izah!" he said.

Izah snapped back to reality again.

"Oh, uh, what?"

"I know you probably weren't expecting this, but would be okay with helping me out?"

Izah stared forward, nervously looking out at everyone else.

"Umm…I…well…"

"We saw you could fight, and you looked pretty confident. I presume you can defend as well?"

Izah felt a few beads of sweat on the top of her forehead. Use her magic, here, in front of a whole crowd? It was a big risk the last time she showed off and it would be a bigger risk this time. She started trying to come up with the best way to say no when she heard the sound of footsteps coming up closer behind her and the voice of the strange, emotionless man in her head.

" _You don't want to let the people down, do you?"_

She froze. She could feel Arin's eyes staring at her, burning themselves into the back of her head. Without turning her head, she looked over as much as she could, barely seeing the man behind her and to the side from the corner of her vision. She gritted her teeth and responded.

" _How far are you going to push me? How long is this going to last?"_

" _Everyone expects a satisfying ending, do they not? You have made your grand arrival, and now you must make a good impression. You don't want to disappoint."_

A tear threatened to form and fall from Izah's eye. Again, there came a threat, hidden as some vapid, worthless form of encouragement. It was a threat, though, and Izah couldn't defy it. With a deep breath, Izah forced the tear to stay hidden. Quickly, she lashed out in the one way available to her.

" _You bastard!"_

The tall man cocked his head to the side and responded unfazed.

" _Again, insult taken."_

With that, Izah put on another fake smile and answered the request.

"Yeah, okay, I can try."

Bathory responded happily along with the rest of the room. He turned and ran over to the entrance of the arena. Izah started heading over as well along with Negati. The redhead quickly got Izah's attention.

"In case you want them, you can take some cartridges too."

She held a few more cartridge shells in her and offered them to Izah. The air mage looked down at the offering.

"Oh…well thank you."

She took the cartridges from Negati, and while Negati stopped next to her partner, Izah continued walking past them until she took her place around ten or so meters away. The crowd reformed behind Bathory and Negati. Asana shoved her way to the front of the group, dragging Vaele along by the arm to get both of them front-row seats. Eratarka stood at the back of the group. Arin had positioned himself next to her and looked over at the Captain.

"I presume this meets the standards you have made for me, Captain."

Eratarka looked over at Arin.

"Hmm?"

"You did seem very pleased to meet Izah, and I have advanced her recovery greatly with our visit today. How will you respond to the actions I have taken?"

Eratarka sighed and looked forward again.

"Talk to me afterwards. We can go back over your service then."

Izah stood, holding the dark blue gem form of her device in one hand and the cartridges in another.

"Greater Call, come out!"

[ACTIVATING]

The gem began to glow, and it soon transformed into the dark blue pistol again. Izah held the weapon down so it was almost sideways. Part of the side of the weapon retracted to provide an opening that Izah loaded the cartridges into. When the side closed back up, the neon band that ran round the outline of the weapon on its sides glowed brightly for a moment to signify that the cartridges were accepted. She lowered her arm and looked forward then.

Bathory stood in his stance again, bracing himself and aiming the cannon forward.

"Alright. Let's get a couple shots as a base – just me, nothing extra. You ready?"

Izah nodded and held her other hand up.

"Protection."

A half-circle of magic appeared in front of her, shielding her from Bathory's attack. Bathory also nodded, and a sound began to radiate from Aphelion as it started charging. The inside of the barrel spun, and a green light formed deep inside the barrel.

"Alright, then," he said. "Fire!"

Aphelion launched out a fast-moving ball of energy that rushed towards Izah and slammed into her barrier. It exploded, and the force sent a small shockwave through the barrier and then through Izah. She tensed up as a pulse of more concentrated mana usage shot from her linker core through her body, like a muscle tensing up before releasing again. The explosion had faded, and Aphelion was already charged with another shot.

"And another one," said Bathory. "Fire."

His device shot another ball forward at the barrier, and it impacted with the same results – another small explosion and another light shockwave as Izah's barrier pushed back, standing firm. Aphelion began to wind down and Bathory lowered his weapon again. A screen appeared in front of him, generated by his device and showing what seemed like results or measurements from the shots Bathory had just fired. He looked at the screen, reading the data provided and nodding. The screen disappeared again and Bathory began speaking.

"Alright. Like I said, that was the base power. That was me on my own. But now, we're going to bring out what I wanted to test. See, from the very beginning, when my device was handed down to me and I could begin to develop my abilities, I have learned that it's best to fight as a team. Since then, I have done so, first to defend the peace and then…well, just to survive, but it's always been to do what I could not do alone."

He looked at Negati out of the corner of his eye. She smiled, and he smiled as well before looking forward again.

"So, when I need to fight as hard as I can, and I'm relying on others as they are with me, I hope to get the direct support needed to turn the tides. Aphelion, prepare for dual support."

[UNDERSTOOD]

The top of the device began transforming and changing once again. It wasn't another big change that involved the entire device, but on the top of the cannon, slightly in front of where Bathory held onto the side of it with his left hand, a slot formed with a horizontal handle running across it, proving room on all sides for a hand to wrap around it. The material that was moved to create a space built up in front of the slot to act as a front guard for it.

Behind him, several of the other officers tried craning their necks to look around and see the new addition. Those on the fringe got to see more of the show, and they were locked onto the device, watching it intently, maybe whispering or conversing quietly again among their peers.

Negati took a step forward and stood next to Bathory on the right side of the cannon. Bathory turned his head slightly again and spoke in a confident voice.

"You ready?"

Negati tightened the muscles in her right arm, and the red lines began to form and glow up her arm from the base at her wrist. They flowed brightly as Negati channeled her mana.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's give it a shot."

She turned so her body was facing the weapon and she grabbed onto the new handle with her right hand. The handle began to glow too, and as Negati grabbed on as well to the back of the weapon, and as Bathory also started to channel his energy, the weapon hummed again with the magic it was preparing to release.

Izah looked on from in front of them. Through her mostly-transparent barrier, she had been watching the events as well. But as Aphelion began to hum louder, and the light inside of it began to glow again, Izah braced herself for another attack on her barrier. Several seconds went by, and the shot only built up more energy, before it was finally time.

"Alright, Aphelion!" yelled its master. "Fire!"

Aphelion launched out another attack, though this one had so much buildup that instead of being one solid ball of energy, it was more like a short beam. Izah's eyes shot open and she clenched her teeth before the attack hit and braced herself. The attack crashed into the barrier, but it wasn't just one quick jolt now – it was an initial force and then a constant pressure on her body for the entire duration. As short as the attack was, overall – just a second or so in duration – it shook Izah more than just absorbing one quick impact would. It was like holding a stretch, rather than just the effort of getting there.

The attack died out, and Izah looked back at the other two. Just like before, the light was already building up again in the barrel of the weapon.

"And another one," Bathory shouted. "Fire!"

The weapon fired, and the same events happened once again. Izah's barrier held up, but she had to shut her eyes and look away in her attempt to keep the attack at bay. Again, after the last of the short beam burnt itself out, there was relative silence, and Izah looked back with one eye open. Negati and Bathory stood side by side, holding onto the weapon, but Bathory began to lower it again and Negati released her hold.

"Alright, alright, take a short break, time to evaluate," said Bathory.

Another screen appeared automatically in front of him while Negati dug around in her pocket for her personal storage device.

"Okay," she said, getting it out, "and how am I doing?"

She made the device project a screen that showed a different, more basic version of her body's statistics – her heart rate, her linker core usage, and other vital signs. The screen from Aphelion had all the stats from the actual attack itself and projected various metrics such as the successful conversion rate of the supporting magic and the percent of energy released versus the total required

Izah was panting somewhat, and she released her barrier. As the other two compared the effectiveness of their own work, Izah stood there without any clue of what to do herself. She scanned the audience again, who were again sticking to themselves and conversing in hushed tones aside from a single fox-girl at the front of the audience who was cheering loudly for her master. Izah smiled quickly at Asana's encouragement, but with the short rest came time to think and time to begin to worry. She had the obvious power advantage here, but the attacks were making a noticeable impact when they hit and she was also somewhat frail by this point after all the time spent keeping her magic inside her. And with all that, there was another feeling that was beginning to crop up in the bottom her chest…

It had reared its ugly head last time Izah used this much of her magic, and it was beginning to rear itself again. The activity had come so rapidly this time that the feeling was sure to be following shortly. Perhaps it was time to cut this little event off.

She had just started to try and get the other two mages' attention when Bathory and Negati closed their screens and looked back at Izah.

"Alright, Izah, we got a couple results and things look good, so, if we can, can I try one attack, as powerful as I can make it?"

Whatever actions the air mage was about to take were lost, and she just hunched over slightly with an exasperated look.

"Wh…what do you mean?"

"I just want to do one last shot, putting all we can into it, just to see what that is. Izah, you're Triple A, you're probably the best chance I've got for trying this without putting a big hole in the wall. I've got some cartridges loaded, but so do you, right? You can handle it."

Izah thought about the offer, and she felt her face go pure white. This was not a good idea. Nobody else knew that, however. She scanned the faces of the crowd again. They all looked on, facing her and adding to the uncomfortable feeling. Though Vaele also looked a bit worried, Asana looked excited, and then finally Izah looked up at the people in the back of that crowd. There was the Captain she had been dragged here to meet, and next to her, rising above the top of the other mages, was Arin. He stared at her, completely plain but definitely implying something. He didn't even need to say it at all – not even telepathically. His words from before echoed in her head well enough.

 _You don't want to let the people down, do you? You don't want to disappoint._

Izah shut her eyes and tried to convince herself that it would work out. 'You do this one extra thing and then you'll be done,' she said to herself. 'You can do this. You have your pills. You'll get through it.'

She opened her eyes.

"Okay. One shot. You get one."

Bathory smiled brightly and raised Aphelion excitedly.

"Alright! I knew you'd come through. Then get ready, everyone!"

Bathory lifted Aphelion's Breach Form up once again, and Negati took her position as well. The lines began glowing on her arm again, and she wrapped her hand tightly around the handle on the top. Along with that, Bathory called out again to his device.

"Aphelion, load cartridge!"

The weapon hummed forcefully, pulling the magic built up in the cartridges into the next attack and then spitting the two empty shells out with bursts of steam, one at a time. Across from the two, Izah held her weapon out to the side.

"Greater Call, load cartridge."

The pistol also absorbed the energy within the shells and then spat them out. Izah held her left arm forward again and called out another spell.

"Multiple Defenser."

A large, flat shield formed right in front of her as a light orange Midchildan magic circle. Then, a smaller circle also formed in front of the first, and a smaller one in front of the second, as multiple layers of protection blocked whatever magic would be incoming.

As the shields formed, Izah felt a quick jolt of pain. It went away as soon as it had appeared, but it wasn't a good sign for the air mage to process. She clenched her teeth tightly again and she began to worry, scared about how she'd do and what would happen. In front of her, Bathory and Negati continued charging their attack. Spurred on by the extra boost from the cartridges, the attack blossomed to well above their previous efforts, and the glow became so bright and strong that it began to spill out from the front of the weapon to where the two operators were almost hidden by the brightness emanating from it. To them, Izah was basically hidden as well, and they had to squint since they were right there along with the light.

Almost unknowingly, Izah pushed harder into the defensive spell. Her worry and unease put her into a cycle of pushing harder and harder, scared of not pushing enough. The patterns on her barriers solidified themselves more and more to where the shields were almost completely opaque, solid circles of color. All of that came to a head, and Izah felt a horrible jolt down in her chest.

She gasped and practically doubled over. Though her feet stayed on the ground and her legs remained upright, her chest fell down until she propped her hands on her knees, finally stopping the descent. She lost all focus on what she was doing and her mind blanked from the sudden surprise.

Her barrier quickly faded out.

On the sidelines, Asana's eyes went wide. Even she felt that jolt, as Izah's condition and magic ability dropped sharply in that fraction of a second. But worse than that, above all the noise generated from the ground mage's device, was a single word cried out to the heavens but lost on the distracted air mage.

"FIRE!"

Another beam shot out, and Asana screamed.

"MISS IZAH!"

Maybe her voice cut through the rest of the noise, or maybe it was something else. But Izah reacted to something, and she looked up just in time to see a brightly glowing wall of energy charging at her and filling up her whole view. In a panicked instant, the air mage thrust her hand forward again and another barrier appeared right in front of the beam. This barrier wasn't anywhere near strong enough, though. As the energy slammed into it, the barrier began to crack almost immediately. Izah had just enough time to stand back up and take one or two steps back, her face completely frozen in a terrified expression, before the barrier shattered and the attack hit her dead-center.

She cried out and was blown back off her feet. The attack was like a solid wave, pounding into her and swallowing her in it while carrying her backwards. Without being rooted in place by any bindings, she was free to move along with whatever forces acted upon her, and soon gravity had pulled her down and out of the attack. She hit the floor and rolled several times, her scream of pain turning to winded grunts by the time she came to a stop.

The attack finally died out, and the blinding glow receded. Bathory and Negati looked on, partly anxious to see the damage they had done to Izah's defenses. The sight they actually saw was far different than what they expected. Their expressions faded, and they could do little more than just stare at the fallen mage. They were shocked, concerned, and also guilty. In the audience, they also looked on with shocked, silent expressions. One boy in the front row, Izah's younger brother, finally got something out of his throat.

"I…Izah?" he asked weakly.

Next to him, Asana's shock crumbled in one swift moment and she darted forward. She cried out her master's name as she stumbled to a knee, trying to rush over to the woman as fast as she could. This brought the others out of their trance, and Eratarka pushed through the group on her way over while Negati and Bathory finally found their feet too. Negati got over quickly while Bathory had to speak to his device.

"Aphelion, we're done." He said rapidly. "Go to standby."

The entire weapon, cannon barrel, base, and all quickly glowed again and dematerialized until it was just a dark green gem hanging by the cord wrapped around Bathory's lower arm.

Izah was conscious. Things were hazy, but she was conscious. She put her hand on the ground, trying to push herself up as Asana got to her.

"Miss Izah, please, you shouldn't move."

Izah ignored the request and kept getting back to her feet. There was a dark feeling in her body that seemed to neutralize the pain from the attack. There was a need from deep within that didn't care about her defeat – in fact, it seemed to come on even stronger now.

"I have to get rid of this," she whispered harshly. "I have to stop it."

She struggled to her feet. Bathory stood close, arm halfway reached out, unsure if Izah needed help.

"Hey, I – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you. Do – um, do you-"

She looked up, directly at the group that was quickly forming in close to her, but she was staring past everybody to the nearby door that lead to the halls of the Bureau building. With a jolt, she sprung forward, brushing past Bathory and pushing her way through the layers of the crowd. Several people, including her familiar and her brother called her name out but they were ignored. She sprinted, leaning into it so much she threatened to fall over at any time, tunnel vision blocking anything except her exit strategy.

There was one person who hadn't gone to meet Izah in the arena. One man, with a firm, unchanging expression on his face. He stepped in front of Izah, putting himself between her and the door.

"Surely you don't intend to-"

He was met with the air mage's shoulder as she rammed into his upper body, tossing him to the floor. He landed and remained where he was as the doors were shoved open and the sound of more frantic running was heard drifting down the hallway on the other side of the doors. Wasting no time, the woman's familiar pushed through the crowd as well and ran past Arin out to the hallway in pursuit.

"Miss Izah, stop! Miss Izah!"

Out in the hallway, there was a bathroom not far from the training area and Izah went towards it, shoving the door open. With a small stroke of luck after everything else that had just happened, the bathroom was empty. She sprinted in, over to the faucets where a mirror stood behind them and reflected the room. Izah's hands operated as fast as they could, though they were now shaking. She reached in her pocket and got out the small, nondescript medicine bottle, frantically panting as her hands tried to open the cap through their violent tremors. Finally, she got a grip on it and twisted, pulling so hard that the bottle slipped out of her grasp and tumbled over, spilling the contents out onto the floor.

Izah cursed and fell to her knees, reaching down and trying to gather up the medicine again while still dealing with her hands shaking. Her name was called out from the hallway, and Asana pushed into the room as well. She dropped her knees as well, reaching down to assist her master in her task.

"Miss Izah, you can't do this here. You have to hold on – you have to."

Izah continued grabbing at the pellets, though in her current condition, that was extremely difficult.

"You think I wanted to do this? You think I want them to see me like this?"

"But please, Miss Izah, they don't want to hurt you. Maybe they can help us! Maybe they will-"

Asana was interrupted as the door to the bathroom was kicked open violently. The two women froze and they shot their gaze over at the sudden noise. There, in the entryway, was Arin.

He stepped forward, and the door swung shut behind him. He stared down at the other two, eyes narrowed. Asana and Izah both looked up with wide-eyed, scared expressions. Neither of them were able to say anything to the man who had discovered them.

Arin paused, letting the silence linger for a few seconds. He took in the sight, including the pills scattered along the ground and the small overturned bottle along with them.

"So," he began, "the truth has finally revealed itself."

The other two remained almost frozen. Izah's jaw twitched as she took in rapid, shuddered breaths. Tears began to fall from her eyes. Next to her, Asana tried to speak.

"P…please…" she said, weakly. "Please help us…"

Arin continued staring down at the two.

"The Bureau shall decide how it will proceed with you. However, first you must be detained. Retrigal?"

Arin twisted his hand around to show that he'd been holding his device the whole time. The grey gem glowed and quickly transformed into the bladed weapon. At the sight of this, Asana gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around Izah. The familiar buried her head into her master's shoulder and shut her eyes tightly. The sudden turn also pushed Izah to respond, and she quickly pulled her arms up which was holding onto Greater Call and it transformed as well. She pointed the gun at Arin, glaring at him. Her arm shook wildly as she tried keeping her aim on the man.

"Don't come any closer!" she yelled. "Don't take another step."

* * *

Outside the bathroom, the group stood further down the hall, rooted in place and just watching the door. Bathory stood in the front of the pack. Arin had said that he would handle the issue, but Bathory, along with everyone else, was still on high alert from the previous events. He fidgeted nervously and took another half-step forward before retracting it.

Vaele pushed his way to the front of the group and walked up to Bathory.

"We need to do something," he said. "I don't like this."

"What do you mean?" asked Bathory.

"That man, I…she isn't safe with him there."

Bathory didn't know what Vaele knew. To Bathory, Arin had worked to bring Izah here in the first place, so surely he was working to calm her down. Without trying to brush the boy off, Bathory just spoke what he was thinking, mainly due to the tension.

"I mean, Arin knows what he's doing. He's logical, he knows what to say. He'll do a good jo-"

The door of the bathroom suddenly blasted back off its hinges as Arin was launched into it with a loud explosion. The tall man flew back, slamming into the opposite wall. He crumpled to the floor and his device fell from his grip. Then, Izah ran out into the hallway, holding onto her weapon as smoke rose from the tip of the barrel. She stopped, looking wildly in all directions, then laid eyes on Bathory and the others and aimed her device in their direction.

Instinctively, the others recoiled and tried to talk Izah down. The air mage glared at them, both hands holding on tightly to her weapon. A sound from the other direction made her spin around and aim at a couple other mages who were drawn over by the activity. They too backed off and tried not to draw any ire.

"Izah," said Negati, "we don't want to fight. What's going on? Can you talk to us?"

Asana ran out of the bathroom, lunging and grabbing onto the air mage's body.

"No!" she cried. "Miss Izah, stop!"

Her master ignored her pleas and rapidly turned to aim at one group before aiming back at the other. This happened a couple times before Izah faced the group opposite of Bathory and the participants of the testing session. She lingered on that part of the hallway, looking past the mages standing there and all the way to the very end of the hall, where it curved to the side at the corner of the building and a row of glass lined the wall as a large window.

She nodded, and a bright orange magic circle formed on the ground below her.

"We have to get out of here. Come on Asana."

The familiar saw Izah's intentions and fought back, trying to pull her back toward Vaele and the group.

"No, Miss Izah, you can't! We have to stay here."

Izah got sick of Asana's actions and grabbed her, pulling her in and holding an arm around Asana's waist tightly.

"Enough, Asana! Stop fighting me."

Izah focused on the link between herself and her familiar, and Asana cried out as her whole body glowed before transforming from a human to her original form as a fox. With Izah pinning her in tightly, the animal could try and thrash but otherwise was helpless to do anything. Then, Izah stood like she was about to rush forward, and she did so, jumping nearly horizontally into the air and flying down the hall. The other people in that direction ducked and twisted out of the way as Izah jetted past them, racing towards the window. They shielded their eyes from the gust of wind created and the force sent some of the people stumbling back. With her free hand, Izah aimed Greater Call forward and shot the window, cracking the glass into small pieces that Izah just flew straight through and out into the blue sky.

Vaele reached out as if he could grab her and ran toward the window.

"Izah! Izah!"

He called for her several times, but it was fruitless. He reached the window and looked out at his sister as she flew away. Bathory and the others joined him, and they all watched as a small speck on the horizon grew smaller and smaller.


	10. Aftermath

**Chapter 10 - Aftermath**

* * *

Broken glass rested on the floor next to the window. It crunched and broke into smaller pieces as more people ran up to look out at the escaping mage, a now-undiscernible sight that disappeared below the tree line.

The faces looking out were all filled with some sort of shock or astonishment. Nobody spoke. Vaele was frozen staring out at the horizon where his sister had flown to. His gaze didn't move. The others soon drifted towards looking at each other. Some attempted to speak but their voices were still caught in their throats.

A pair of footsteps pushed through the group and finally broke the silence.

"Okay everyone, away from the window" said Eratarka. "We don't want anyone getting hurt from this."

The Captain got to the front and looked to the ground at the mess, sweeping some of the bigger un-broken glass shards towards the wall with her feet. Behind her, the group backed up to a safe distance. Then, Eratarka turned around and tried to speak.

"Okay…um…so…"

Finally, she grunted and put her head in her hands.

"What the hell was any of that? Why did she run?"

"If it's my fault, I didn't mean to hurt her," said Bathory.

"No, it's not us," said Negati. "In hindsight, maybe she was acting a little weird. I didn't think anything of it before, but obviously now…"

"Then what?" asked Eratarka. "We haven't answered the question yet. What just happened? Why did it happen?"

As the three of them looked at each other, they all seemed to notice the other person standing next to them, a young boy who had still not spoken since the previous turmoil. Slowly, they all looked at him. He noticed, and his eyes flickered rapidly between them until Eratarka spoke.

"Vaele, right? You're her brother. Do you know something that we don't?"

Vaele started shaking from the fear. He dreaded the day that the secret might get out, and all of that worrying still couldn't prepare him for what to do when it actually happened. His tongue was suddenly so dry.

"I…" he started. "Um…w-well…"

He was spared by another set of footsteps that pushed through the group. The four all turned to see Arin trudging up to them, weakened from Izah's attack but still capable. He raised his hand and presented it to Captain Eratarka. In his palm were the white pills from the bathroom floor.

"Izah had been attempting to consume these when I caught up with her," he said. "I am certain these may be the cause of, or an assistant to, her behavior."

Eratarka took one of the pills and looked it over. There wasn't much information she could get from the purely white outside of a small pill, but she had this feeling that the pill was nothing approved by the TSAB. She closed her hand around it and then looked back firmly at Vaele.

"Okay. Now you need to speak."

A flood of emotion went through the young boy, and he broke his silence by swinging wildly to the other end of the scale, shouting and almost pleading with large gestures as he responded.

"Fine! Izah hurt. She hurt a lot. A…and she took those so she wouldn't hurt. Yeah, it wasn't good, but she needed it!"

"So did these cause that outburst?"

"No, that was her without them. That's when we knew it was time for one. She'd get like that and start to hurt again. After she took one, she just laid around, I mean, it kinda just…stopped her. She just laid there and did nothing for hours until it wore off again."

Tears had started to fall from the boy's eyes and his last few words blurred together completely. Negati moved next to Vaele and pulled him in for a hug. Vaele did so, wrapping his arms tightly around Negati and burying the side of his face into her.

Eratarka sighed.

"So somewhere along the line, Izah dropped whatever we had her doing, picked these up, and that started taking its toll. She stayed in her house so much because that's what it did to her. She couldn't talk to us because obviously she had something to hide."

Bathory sighed as well.

"And so Vaele acted so skittish too because…well…her secret is his also. It all makes sense now."

Eratarka shut her eyes and cursed under her breath.

"Why didn't she say anything…"

Then, she looked off back down the hallway, muttering to herself and getting a plan together.

"Okay, we need to put a search out for her. Get people looking, wherever she might be. She's gotta come in now. She has to come in."

She began to walk off, but was stopped when Arin shifted in front of her.

"Captain?"

Eratarka almost jumped. Her sudden gasp was certainly loud enough to draw Bathory and Negati's attention.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I believe it is time we re-evaluated my service to you."

Eratarka blinked several times with a confused look on her face.

"I…what?"

"You told me that after the event, we would speak about my progress towards removing me from your service given my efforts in this case."

Eratarka shifted to a look of pure incredulity, and she responded more harshly that before.

"Yeah, and that was before all of this happened! Things have changed, if you couldn't tell. I need to get to work."

She pivoted and started walking away again, leaving Arin behind. On the man's face, his eyebrows lowered and he began to glare forward. His empty hand clenched into a fist. His emotion started up again.

"Arin?" asked Bathory, watching the whole scene. "Arin, come on, let's see what happens and maybe talk about it later. Arin, leave it."

The other man breathed harshly through his nose and spun, heading off after the Captain. He had put in this effort to bring Izah here in the first place and had then stuck his neck out to attempt to capture her, and all of that would not just be ignored.

"Captain?" he asked. "Captain, we are going to speak."

He took bigger strides than her and closed the gap quickly. He unclenched his fist and reached out to touch Eratarka's shoulder. He did so, and she stopped and violently spun around.

"Don't you DARE do anything like that again," she cried.

Whatever attention had started dissipating among the other officers from the testing session was pulled back in to the new scene. Eratarka continued, almost yelling at Arin.

"I told you what was going to happen. I told you that we have bigger priorities now. I don't have the time."

"You will make time, Captain" said Arin, also raising his voice. "I made this happen. I made Izah come here. She would not have done so otherwise."

"So you made her rush right out of a window? You turned us into the bad guys? Ohhhhh, great job!"

"I could not have predicted the results of this meeting. And I am talking about myself here. You wanted me to be responsible for Izah. You wanted to see me work off this service you put me in. I did exactly that, Captain. I made this happen on my own accord."

Eratarka continued glaring at the man, trying to speak but constantly getting stopped by something else she wanted to say. Finally, she got something out.

"Do you think this is all about you? Was everything you did just for your own self-interest? That's not why I put you to work! It was the exact opposite - So you could learn a thing or two about helping and not hurting."

Eratarka turned around and took a step before suddenly having something else to say and spinning back around.

"You know what? I have a new order for you. You. Will NOT. Speak. To me. I don't care what you have to say. You have nothing to say. All I hear is perpetuate whining about how you don't get to do whatever you want to. So for the moment, you can sit on the side and wait for us to figure this out and get Izah back. Do I make myself clear?"

She finished speaking through gritted teeth, poking Arin harshly for emphasis. The two maintained tense eye contact for several seconds, both of them completely silent. Eratarka was waiting for a response, and finally she prompted Arin again.

"Well?"

Arin reached up and pointed at his mouth. Eratarka spent a second interpretating what he was getting at, and when she did, she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You know what I mean," she said. "From the time I leave here, you will not seek me out in person, call me, or talk to me at all about what I'm going to do with you until we both feel it's a better time. But right now, you can at least show you understand me. Do you?"

Arin sighed lightly. He was still angry but he didn't do anything with it.

"Loud and clear, Captain."

Eratarka relaxed and looked down momentarily.

"Good. Then you are dismissed."

Eratarka looked around, noticing she still had a decent audience of officers. They could be the resources she'd use to go after Izah – at least for the moment.

"Alright, listen up," she said to them. "We have a rogue mage who needs to be brought back to us for her own safety. Do we have any locations she might go to at some point?"

From the back, Negati stepped forward.

"We know her address. She may have gone back home, and maybe we can catch her if we move quickly. We can take you there."

Eratarka nodded and address the whole group again.

"That sound like a plan – or at least, one place to check. If your squadrons are not fully represented among you, gather them up and we will meet to brief on where you're looking. See me in five minutes."

The other mages all ran off to gather their fellow officers or equipment. As the hall emptied, Eratarka walked up to Negati and Bathory.

"First Lieutenant, Master Sergeant, you're coming with me, then. When we get to her house, we need to figure out everything we can about the full situation here. There's obviously a lot we don't know about."

"What about Izah's brother?" asked Negati, pointing to Vaele. "Should he go back to his home with us?"

Vaele had stopped crying, but he stood there in place, looking up at Negati but barely focusing on the conversation being had about him. Eratarka took one look at him and shook her head.

"It wouldn't be good leaving him alone. If we get Izah, she's obviously not going back there for some time. The boy should stay with us. The bureau has temporary residence for guests in this facility, right? For the moment, I'd say he's a guest."

Negati thought for a second and looked back at Vaele.

"Maybe I should stay here then and get him over to a room."

Bathory shook his head and responded.

"If anyone should stay, it should be me. Captain, you saw how much power I used during testing. If we met with Izah and got in a fight, I don't know how much help I could be. I can take Vaele."

Negati and Eratarka both nodded. They turned around to leave when Eratarka saw Arin still in the hall next to her. She sighed and quickly addressed the man.

"And you – give me the rest of those pills and I'll deal with them."

Arin handed her the small plastic bottle and then poured the pills Izah had left behind into the bottle. Eratarka took the cap and closed it tightly.

"Aright. I guess, next, you should go home. Don't try to help us. I'm not as mad now but I stand by what I said. We're not talking about your problem until we've resolved Izah's."

Eratarka walked off, turning to go to the evidence room. Negati followed her. Behind Arin, Bathory got Vaele's attention.

"Vaele?"

The boy looked up at the other man.

"Yeah?"

"Hey – looks like you're staying here for a bit while we try to get your sister back. Don't worry – I have faith in us – the TSAB. I am one of them after all. Either way, you want to come with me to your room?"

With a hesitant nod, Vaele followed close as Bathory walked off, heading down the other hall away from the corner. That just left Arin, standing alone, processing all that happened and what the Captain had told him to do now. With another plain sigh, he turned and headed off as the cleaning crew came to pick up the damage and debris from the scene.

* * *

Back home, in fact, was the first place Izah went. She pierced through the air like a bullet, eyes set on the familiar house far out on the edge of the city. The wind rushed past, deafening her to any other sounds, and she tried to put away the now-pounding pain that was spreading throughout her body.

 _Almost there…I'm almost there…_

She saw the quiet, tree-hidden drive up from far away and arced down between the trees above the road leading to her front door. Now barreling down on the house, she tilted back to land on her feet in front of the front door and went to push it open in one quick moment.

It almost worked. She landed on the porch and busted the front door open, her momentum carrying herself down to the floor in the entryway. She twisted so as not to land on Asana, and the holt from hitting the ground tossed the fox from Izah's grip and onto the floor as well. As soon as she could, Asana transformed back into her human form and went to try and pull her master up.

"Miss Izah!"

Izah ignored the fox-girl's actions and stared forward at the closed door to her own bedroom.

"M…my room…" she muttered weakly. "I remember…"

"What? What do you remember, Miss Izah?"

"I…I left some…I left some behind…"

Izah started to crawl forward, but each action was a greatly pained effort. Her arm gave out under her and she fell back to the ground, grimacing. Asana looked rapidly at the closed door and sprang into action again.

"I'll get it, Miss Izah. Stay there!"

Asana ran to the door, pushing it open and entering the dark hovel. She looked down at the floor, where most, if not all, of Izah's possessions were. Scattered among the dirty clothes and the barely-covered mattress with blankets half-strung over the side were, as Izah said, a few small white pills. There weren't many, but at the moment, Izah only needed one.

Asana snatched one up and bolted back out of the room.

"I have it! I have it!"

Izah had pulled herself a bit closer and she was about midway between the front door and her room's door. Asana ran over to her, and Izah reached out to take the pill from Asana. Asana held on, though, and guided her hand in front of Izah's mouth, pushing the contents of her palm in when Izah opened up. Still shaking violently, the air mage had to focus all of her attention into salivating enough to actually swallow and get the pill down. She managed it though, and almost immediately she let out a deep sigh of relief, falling onto her back and laying there.

Asana bent over, staring into Izah's now-almost-calm expression.

"Is that good enough, Miss Izah?"

Izah smiled and reached up, wrapping her arms around her familiar and pulling her down so Asana was laying on top of her. Izah still shook, but not as bad and her mood was already different.

"Mmm…you're a lifesaver, Asana. Again."

Asana tried to get some leverage to pull away but she was trapped.

"That's…that's nice, Miss Izah, but-"

"No, no, stay here, everything's okay now."

"But Miss Izah, what's going to happen to us?"

"What do you mean?"

"All of those TSAB people, they saw your secret!"

Izah's eyes shot open wide. In her rush to get back home, she hadn't even thought about what happened. She'd spilled her secret on the floor in front of that decrepit, emotionless man and then she'd left the evidence behind. They knew she was breaking the law.

Rapidly, Izah sat up and released Asana. She got to her feet, though she needed to brace herself against the wall.

"We need to leave, Asana. We can't stay here."

Asana's eyes flew open and her ears perked back in shock.

"What? W-we're running away?"

"Yeah. They catch me, they stop me from getting the pills, and things would get a lot worse for me. They don't know that. They don't know what these do. They don't know what these hold back."

Izah shuffled into her room. She knelt down and observed the pills she had left behind on accident. There weren't a lot.

She turned around, seeing Asana still standing around uselessly. The air mage quickly barked an order.

"Get as much as you can out of here and get it to the car. Everything we can take, we will take. I have a couple minutes before I get useless again, so we gotta make this count."

Asana nodded and turned, racing to the kitchen. She tried to get as much food as she could into a couple bags that were laying around. Due to Izah's lifestyle on Nemelendelle, the food was mostly boxed or canned, and there was little that was fresh and would spoil based on how long this hideout lasted. There were a few bottles of water as well, and Asana got those into a bag before running to the front door and out to the ugly, beaten-up white van.

During that time, Izah gathered the pills from the floor, lingering on the worryingly small number before placing those in her pocket and pounding the ground with her fist, grunting. Why did she have to take all of them with her? What was she thinking? Why couldn't she have done something else?

Still, she had to focus. The pill would start its effects quickly, and she didn't want to run out of time to do what needed to be done. Grabbing a blanket, she spread it out on the floor and then began throwing clothes into a pile on the blanket. It was a random scatter from what was on the ground around her but hopefully there would be some of everything there. Then, she folded the corners of the blanket over the clothes pile and tied them all together to make a sack. As Asana went out the door, Izah followed behind.

The fox-girl ran to the white van and pulled open the back door, tossing her sacks into the spacious back of the van. Izah got over, stumbling along and panting at the end of it. Even that run was hard on her. With Asana's help, she got her sack of clothes in the back as well.

"Okay…one more trip…" said Izah. She turned to go back, but her condition was already deteriorating and she stumbled, reaching out for support. Asana caught her master and looked her in the eyes.

"Miss Izah, you need to stay here. Get in – I'll go back for anything."

Izah just nodded while trying to catch her breath. As the fox-girl ran off, Izah turned and got over to the passenger door. Slowly, she pulled the door open and got in, looking over at the mess that was the driver's-side door and the carnage around that. At the sight of that, she chuckled lightly.

"G-Greater Call, why didn – wh – why didn't anyone say anything to me about this?"

Her speech started to blur, and Izah just laid back in her seat. Outside, Asana was running up with more possessions from the house. She chucked them into the back of the van and then went to shut the doors on the back. She did so, but as she went to leave, they swung back open again. Annoyed, Asana shut the back doors a second time, holding them closed for a second before releasing. This time, they stayed in position, and Asana rand up to the heavily-dented driver's-side door. She yanked on the handle, but the door would not budge open.

Frustrated, she cried out and kicked the wheel before running over to the other side of the van. Opening the passenger door, she jumped up and crawled across Izah to get to the driver's seat.

"Sorry Miss Izah – I'm sorry."

Finally in position, she started the engine, hearing it roar to life before something seemed to kick the whole vehicle up with a loud clunking sound. Asana froze, worried, but the engine hummed after that and nothing else seemed to happen. She looked down and around at the various strange levers and the big wheel in front of her, trying to remember what to do. She had been a passenger when Vaele and her went out to test his weapon but she never drove herself. Still, the steps that Vaele would do came back in a vague haze.

"Um…" Asana mumbled, "so I…"

She managed to get the car out of park and then going forward, having to test several times which pedal was the gas and which was the brake but figuring it out soon enough. With great care, Asana got the van turned around and heading down the long drive leading to the roads heading away from the house.

"So, Miss Izah, where are we going?" asked Asana.

Izah moaned and looked forward, her eyelids threatening to close shut.

"Good question…somewhere no one will find us for the moment…somewhere like…"

Izah suddenly chuckled and looked over at the driver, a wide grin on her face. Asana looked over, puzzled by the rapid emotional switch.

"Wh…what?" she asked.

Izah calmed down enough to answer.

"The place, Asana. That house."

"That…what? What house?"

"The one when we went flying…out of the city…out in the middle of nowhere…where nobody would ever go…"

Asana remembered what Izah was talking about. The old, abandoned, broken down shack – splintered wood all along the floor, glass windows all chipped apart and crumbling – a veritable breeding ground for injury and illness. The fox-girl felt herself start to sweat.

"B-but Miss Izah…"

"No buts. My plan. We do my plan. Greater Call, help her out. Show her where to go."

The device silently obliged and projected a screen from it, showing a road map from their current location, out along the very edge of the city over to that river they saw and the bridge leading over it, then across that and out into the deep forest, where the road was nearly covered and the house was all but hidden from view.

Asana gulped. She really didn't know what Izah's plan was or what to do in the first place. She didn't want to run away, especially with Izah in her current state, but there was nothing she could do to stop the air mage. She just hoped that Vaele would be okay.

* * *

Bathory turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Behind it was a dark room, clean but also fairly sparse. As it was intended for temporary housing, it looked basically like the dorm rooms of other Administrative Bureau facilities like the ones back on Midchilda. There was a bed, a desk with a chair, a mirror, a small closet, and little more

He turned on the lights, and Vaele followed him in. The younger boy walked slowly to the end of the bed and sat down. He wasn't crying anymore, but his face was sullen and he hunched over like he barely had any energy.

Bathory sighed and looked around.

"So, here we are. I know it's not much, but it should be enough. We'll…uhh…we'll get you some more clothes if this ends up taking a few days. We'll take care of you."

Vaele sighed, but that was basically all he responded with. Bathory walked over and stood next to the boy.

"How are you feeling? You worried? Scared?"

Vaele responded with another sigh and looked away.

"You know how I feel…" he mumbled.

"Well, I said it before, I'll say it again, you don't have to worry. The TSAB knows what it's doing. We'll get her back, and we'll get her feeling better. Trust in us."

Vaele nodded lightly. Then, he turned his head so he was looking slightly over at Bathory – still just down at his shoes, but better than not at all.

"So…" he muttered, "are you…mad?"

Bathory looked back, confused.

"Mad?"

"Yeah…I mean, we were always lying to you…always lying…are you mad about that?"

Bathory paused. He chuckled lightly before responding.

"No, no, we're not mad. Obviously there are some things we'd have liked to know earlier that we only learned now, and…things aren't exactly as good as they could be, but we know the whole picture now and we can act according. That's all we can do."

Vaele looked over more at the older man. He sounded more worried with his next question.

"But what are you gonna do with her? Are you gonna punish her?"

Bathory chuckled again, lightly. Whatever thoughts were running through Vaele's head seemed to be far more worrisome than the truth.

"Well, we're going to bring her back, and get her some treatment that's not going to…umm…interfere so much, and if she sticks with it and gets better then hey, it all worked out. She hasn't done anything else bad, she hasn't hurt anyone – well, I mean, Arin, but he'll get over it – so I don't see a reason to do anything else but help."

This seemed to satisfy Vaele, and the boy turned forward again as his head drooped and he faced the ground. There was something else on Bathory's mind, though, and the older mage grabbed the chair from the desk, setting it down in front of Vaele so its back faced the bed and then he sat down to talk to Vaele, leaning forward against the back of the chair.

"So I guess you could just wait here and see what happens, but I don't think that's a very good option. What if you helped us out, for Izah's sake?"

Startled, the boy looked up finally, meeting Bathory's gaze with his own.

"Me?" he asked.

Bathory nodded.

"From the little we spoke with you a few days ago, I got the feeling that you wanted to do something. You knew Izah was hurting but you couldn't come to us or talk to us without blowing the situation wide open – and now, everything is, well, out in the open. And your device – did you ever get it working? No? You tried so hard to fix it on your own because you knew you couldn't get our help without being part of the Bureau. So now that there's nothing holding you back, I'm giving you an opportunity – join the Bureau. Work. Train. Fight hard. You have the skill – I saw you at the public session - but now you need the experience. You have what it takes. And this way, you can be there – with us – while we try and save your sister."

Vaele took all of it in, every word magnifying the size and scale of the choice presented to him. Like Bathory said, if anyone else had brought it up while Izah was sick, he'd just turn away and make an excuse. He hadn't had the option to truly consider something like this in a while.

Vaele licked his lips several times, stammering while trying to reply.

"I…umm…I…"

Bathory continued looking right at the boy and interrupted him.

"What did you do back on your home planet? What about before you came here? Were you with the Bureau at all there?"

Vaele shook his head.

"Some, not a lot, they…they all thought I'd be as good as Izah, and when you had her doing everything already…I – I was just wasting my time."

"This is different now. This is nothing like that. I feel like you'd be wasting your time more by just sitting around, hoping, wishing, nothing more. What if getting Izah back doesn't go as well as we hope? What if she's still scared? What if she fights back again? What if we need everyone we can get?"

Vaele inhaled sharply, smacking the bed with his hand. Bathory's words were getting him riled up, probably as intended. He crossed his hands in front of him. He imagined his sister, somewhere out there, that terrified look on her face – the same one she had when she drew her weapon on everybody and escaped. Then, Vaele imagined her fighting some unknown force, doing something she didn't have to do. In his mind, she was getting hurt. She was losing. She was losing badly.

She was in the hospital. The concrete past was now blending into Vaele's imagination. He remembered back when she was brought in following her assault. She laid in a hospital bed back on Amber, injured heavily. Vaele stood next to her bed, looking down at her, covered in bandages with tubes dripping several fluids into her unconscious body. He grabbed her hand. She didn't respond. Tears fell from his eyes then, as they were doing now at the recollection of the memory.

In the present, one of those tears presently on his face fell down off of it, and Bathory spoke up.

"Vaele?"

The boy suddenly returned to the real world, startled. In front of him, still leaning forward and watching him intently, was Bathory. The older mage spoke again, asking his final question.

"What if we need _you_?"

All the emotion he'd just gone through fell away in one rapid rush. Vaele balled his fists and felt a surge of determination pass through him. He stood up rapidly, standing straight and pressing his arms to his sides like he was in roll call.

"I want to join!" he cried. "I want to join the TSAB."

Bathory merely kept looking up from his seated position. Vaele was now a bit taller, and as he tried to stand as tall as he could, puffing out his chest a bit for effect, he watched the older man intently, waiting for the reaction. Finally, Bathory smiled.

"Good choice."

He stood up, pulling the chair back to the desk and tucking it in. Vaele only moved his head as he followed the man first over to the desk and then back to stand in front of the boy again. Finally, after a few seconds, Vaele spoke first.

"S…so…how do I join?"

Bathory crossed his arms.

"You just did."

Vaele gasped, and he lost his perfect posture. Also in disbelief, he looked back up at Bathory.

"I did?"

"Yep. I'll let Eratarka know once she comes back, she'll get someone to do your paperwork, and we'll put you through training soon enough. Given the circumstances, we should get you on a program ASAP so we don't spend any time waiting around."

Then, Bathory had a thought. He supported his chin with his hand and thought.

"You know…actually…I have an idea."

Vaele kept watching Bathory, puzzled.

"What?"

Bathory nodded, and let his arm drop. With a smile, he took a deep breath and responded.

"I know you a little more than the others might. I've seen what you can do. I'll get you started with your training."

Vaele's eyes went wide and he gasped again.

"You?"

"I may not be an Instructor, per se, but I'd like to think I know what experience you need. I'll run it by the Captain, but I think she'll see where I'm coming from."

Bathory turned to leave, but Vaele called out and stopped him.

"So what now? Like, what are we going to do and when?"

Bathory looked up at a clock on the wall and exhaled.

"A lot has happened today. Take some time to prepare. Shower, sleep, get rested. Wake up early and meet me back in the training area first thing."

Bathory headed over to the door and opened it, stepping through. Behind him, Vaele stepped forward and bowed lightly.

"Understood, M…Mister…umm…"

Bathory looked back in, holding the door open with his arm. He giggled again.

"Well, I guess technically now I would be Temporary Instructor Kardenis, but you can just call me Bathory."

* * *

The car headed up the long, straight drive, sirens blaring. It was pushing as fast as it could go, heading up to where the road terminated at the driveway to a standard, non-descript house. As the car braked heavily and skidded to a stop, the Lumiere household looked empty and devoid of life.

Captain Eratarka got out of the driver's seat, and Negati got out from the other side. The redhead saw the front door was wide open, and she sprinted up to the porch.

"Izah?" she yelled. "Izah?"

Negati pushed through the open front door and stood inside the house. She had a weird feeling as she looked around her. Everything looked moved. Jostled. Messed with.

Eratarka came in behind Negati.

"Anything?"

Negati looked around. She shook her head.

"No. I don't think anyone's here. But somebody was. It didn't look like this on our first visit. At least, not this disorderly."

Eratarka walked over toward the kitchen. It was her first time inside Izah's provided home, but what struck her was just how barren everything seemed to be. The fridge was almost empty, aside from some months-old and probably-expired basic condiments and additions. The pantries were just as stark, aside from a couple random things that were tipped over and then never re-righted.

Meanwhile, Negati stepped into Izah's room. In her previous visit, the door was closed and Negati never even saw inside. But now, actually stepping into it, she had to gasp. It was also almost barren, but too much so for a bedroom, especially given that the house was provided to the Lumieres by the Bureau. It at least came with such things as a bedframe, a dresser... anything more than what Negati saw here. There was a mattress with a blanket balled up at the end of it, and then there were various clothes or other objects like torn-open wrappers and empty containers scattered across the floor otherwise. Nothing else.

"How could you live like this…" Negati muttered.

Then, Negati shook her head. She stepped out into the living room at the same time Eratarka had traveled back to the same location.

"Anything?" asked the Captain.

"No one's here now, but I feel like someone _was_ here. The front door was wide open, and I don't think that was caused by the wind."

"And there was no vehicle out front. I thought your acquaintance – Mister Vesceron – had taken them to the Bureau. I assume that means their vehicle would be left here."

Negati spun to look out the front door again. Come to think of it, there was previously the big, white, blocky van Vaele drove that Arin had basically crippled, and that was missing as well. At this realization, Negati just sighed.

"So they took that as well. But why? Izah can fly."

"Maybe to throw us off her trail? I don't know."

Both women just walked silently back out the front door, Eratarka shutting it behind her. They headed back to the Captain's car and met up again.

"So where do you think they went?" asked Eratarka.

"I don't know" said Negati. "I'm not an Inspector. I'm just as lost as you."

With one last sigh, Eratarka pulled up her radio and spoke into it, notifying the other search parties of what they saw – that Izah was there at some point but not anymore. Disappointed, the two got back in the car and drove off, this time without the sirens and flashing lights and at a more relaxed speed.

* * *

Arin sat. Alone. In the living room. Alone. In the house. Alone.

He had gone home after being dismissed. There was no other stop he needed to make or errand he needed to run. Where else would he have gone but back home? Especially with the Captain's warning – the one to stay radio silent for the time being. He didn't plan to have nothing to do, and now he sat there silently at a loss. He raised his arm and looked at the tracking device locked around his wrist. Plainly, he put his arm back down.

"I am at a crossroads in my position, Retrigal."

Arin's gem pulsed and spoke up.

[HOW SO]

"I can heed the Captain's warnings and become uninvolved in the pursuit of Izah Lumiere, or I could perhaps take more aggressive actions that may lead to positive consequences if performed correctly, but also strong negative consequences if misunderstood."

[YOU ARE ASKING THE QUESTION OF WHETHER YOU WILL ACT OR NOT]

"Exactly."

[I CAN PROVIDE MY RECOMMENDATION FOR YOUR FUTURE ACTIONS – HOWEVER I MUST SUBMIT TO THE CHOICE YOU MAKE IN THIS MATTER]

"Mm. As the potential risks and rewards to my behavior increase, perhaps I may have to debate the merits of each decision more than I have done in the past."

Arin was silent after that. He held the standby form of Retrigal in the other hand, running his finger along the edge. It wasn't sharp, but it wasn't flat either, and it was an interesting feeling. Arin thought about his predicament more, and he started to rub a little harder. He took a large breath of air, and then let it out through his nose. His eyebrows narrowed down as well.

"Unfortunately, Retrigal, I do not like either of those options. I do not like how I have been treated and how knowledge or lack thereof of my condition influences their hand in various ways. It is a cycle of misunderstanding and assumptions that has reared its head several times now and appeared more ugly every time.

As Arin gripped his device harder, it spoke up again.

[AND YOU ARE CONSIDERING LETTING THEM KNOW OF YOUR COMPLAINTS]

A thin beam of light flickered in through the window for a brief moment, spreading across Arin's face before ending almost as soon as it began. The ground mage nodded, deliberately, and responded.

"Yes, I am considering it."

* * *

 _To everyone we lost too soon.  
to all the fatherless sons.  
this is for you.  
the black chords they forced on us  
under a broken sky  
made us defy them.  
Hail the all or nothing kids  
with nothing to lose.  
we're not afraid anymore.  
we're like the summer loath to go.  
i want to see hope in things  
i want my life back_

 _So come on with the darkness  
and come on with the fear.  
it's gotta start somewhere  
and it might as well be here _

Arktika - _Johnny Castle_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This chapter and its mood were heavily inspired by both the band **Arktika** (who I quoted right above this note), an excellent emotive post-rock/metal that I've quoted or referenced before, and also the album **A Trap For Giants, A Grave For Judges** by the band **All the Empires of the World**. That album, while not the most technical, just has such a strong vision and central idea and is almost experimental in some of its more simpler ideas and songs, and I can definitely get behind that.


	11. Grats

**Chapter 11 - Grats**

* * *

 **1\. Gratitude**

It was early next morning, and Vaele was alone. He stood in the indoor training area at the Nemelendelle Bureau building, lit by the large ceiling lights that shined down on the area at all times. The training area was always accessible to members of the Bureau but few were ever around at this hour, before the sun had even begun to rise. Vaele stood attentive, though, and he wasn't tired. He was alert, partly due to the nervousness and anticipation of his first training session and partly due to the stretches and exercises Bathory had recommended the boy do before arriving. Push-ups, sit-ups – enough to get the blood flowing and get the session started quickly when it did begin.

Over at the door leading to the outside, a soft beep was heard and the lock on the door disengaged. Bathory pulled the door open from the outside and walked in, heading over to Vaele and taking his jacket off on the way.

Vaele stood in place, waiting to speak until Bathory had spoken first. He still wasn't quite sure what the tone of this session would be, just as he wasn't quite sure was being an enlisted recruit really meant for his day-to-day activities.

"Morning, Vaele" said Bathory, stopping in front of the boy.

Vaele kept his arms pinned tightly to his sides and he stood straight and firm.

"M…morning, s-sir," he responded.

Bathory chuckled lightly.

"I said I wasn't your official Instructor, so no need to be so formal. If you're ready, we should make the most of our time here. Follow me."

Bathory turned and began walking over to the wall opposite the digital arena and sparring sections. Vaele followed and responded to what the older mage had said.

"How much time do we have? Looks like we've got the place for ourselves. It's pretty early, and empty here too."

"Less than you think. It's the only slot I could get on such short notice. And you're going to learn that the day of a TSAB recruit starts early and goes late."

The two reached the wall, and on it were the racks of devices in their standby form that were on display back when Vaele was first here. The displays and arrangements were easy enough to sort through, so it didn't take long for Bathory to look through the selection and decide on a white gem surrounded by a few other identical gems. He took it, and held it for Vaele to take.

"Look familiar?" he asked.

Vaele stared at the gem and his brow furrowed. He knew what this device was and he nodded. It was the same type of device he'd used back at the open session he had gone to, and the same type of device he had tried walking out of the building with. He took the gem and held it in his palm. Activating it, the familiar pistol-type device transformed and settled into its base form. There weren't any bells or whistles, nothing individual or unique about it, but the weapon would do.

"I spoke with Captain Eratarka about what we could do about your personal device," said Bathory, "but that would have taken some time even in ideal circumstances. With the events that have recently transpired, it's safe to say we can't even think of that until after…um…we have resolved the situation."

Vaele gripped the weapon in his hand tightly. He understood what Bathory was getting at. Izah. His sister. A rogue AAA-rank mage that could pose a threat to others, or herself.

"I…I don't mind…" said Vaele, trailing off as he thought of her. "She…she's important…"

Bathory put a hand on Vaele's shoulder, getting the boy's attention again.

"So we should work as fast as we can. No time to waste. Let's get set up."

Vaele looked at Bathory, paused for a little bit, and then nodded. Bathory released his grip and began walking back across the room to the holographic arena. Vaele followed, and Bathory engaged him in more conversation.

"I should ask – you ever used one of these before? I don't know what your situation was like back home, on…um, Amber, right?"

"Yeah, Amber. We didn't have much, or at least not much aside from constructions we'd build. We had some simulation gear, but it always broke, and when it did it would be forever 'till it got fixed."

Bathory reached the control panel for the arena in front of him. It was faint and barely visible at first, but as Bathory touched it, the panel lit up and presented him with different features of the simulations it could generate. As he used the panel and made his way through the options, he responded to what Vaele had said.

"So, I take it you probably haven't fought anything that wasn't another living person. I take it you've never seen a drone?"

Bathory activated something on the panel, and a robotic entity began to form in front of the duo out of absolutely nothing. It was a pod-shaped robot with a blue-and-black color scheme and one large 'eye' in its very center. It was oval-shaped and it was the size of an average human, though it hovered a foot or two off the ground. Right now, the eye was barely lit, since it hadn't yet been fully activated.

Vaele walked up to the drone. It floated in place, bobbing up and down slightly but otherwise remaining still. The boy looked over the machine as Bathory spoke up.

"After the attack on Midchilda three years ago or such, these drones were modified and uploaded as the main combatant in the standard platform of simulations. They're robust, more nimble than you think, and can cover pretty much all the bases of situations and opponents you might encounter. Ranged…melee…even AMF."

"AMF?" asked Vaele.

"Anti-Magilink Field. It's a recent development, but you never know when it's gonna be part of the problem. You ever shoot at something and your magic just…doesn't go through? Or you ever been in an area where you felt like your magic barely even functioned at all?"

Vaele looked down at his weapon and at himself. His blood ran cold at the thought.

"Oh…um…I don't…"

"That's when you really have to think outside the box. But that'll be for another time – not yet. Today, right now, we'll get you fighting some simple battles."

Bathory pushed another button on the control panel, and the gadget drone emitted a sound as it awoke and its eye began to glow brighter. On both of its' sides, a compartment opened up and long, red, hose-like arms with what almost looked like claws at the end shot out of it. Vaele's head spun back towards it and he jumped back in surprise, aiming the pistol at the drone and holding his weapon tightly with both hands.

"Is…is this the start of the training?" Vaele asked rapidly.

Bathory laughed softly again.

"No, no, just making sure it worked."

The gadget drone's eye dimmed again and the robot began to dissolve back out of existence.

"We need a couple things before we can start. I need to decide on an area layout, and you need to get into your barrier jacket."

Vaele paused, and looked down at himself again. His barrier jacket…it had been a while since he used it. He hadn't needed it at all on Nemelendelle during his sister's recovery, and he didn't need it much back on Amber. As he'd said to Bathory earlier, he never felt the need to fight when Izah ran the show back home. The disparity between abilities and his disappointment drove him away from combat there. Still, he remembered what it looked like – how could a mage ever forget? – and he closed his eyes. He pictured the outfit in his head, and as his body glowed, he began to transform.

Several seconds later, the glow began to recede and Vaele stood there in his barrier jacket. Whatever his undershirt was, there was a dark blue jacket buttoned over it with thin, white stripes running up the center of his jacket – one on each side of the very center – and then expanding near the top of the jacket to cover from just-off-center almost to the start of his shoulders. He had long sleeves and basic white gloves, and then basic dark pants down to his shoes that also fit the color scheme.

The boy opened his eyes and looked down at himself, checking to see that it still looked like he imagined it would.

"Vaele," said Bathory, "step over here for a bit."

The boy complied, and the moved out of the arena back to the control panel. Bathory had settled on a layout, and as he pressed down on the panel once again, the arena came to live as solid walls and buildings began to form from out of thin air, first pixelated and semi-opaque before settling in and forming the small details. When it was done, everything in the arena looked like it had always been there.

Vaele's mouth had opened and he stared slack-jawed at the technology in front of him. Bathory looked over at the boy and mumbled a comment, directed at Vaele but kept to himself.

"You think this is something, you should see what they've got on Midchilda…"

Vaele didn't hear any specific words, but he heard something from Bathory and thought it might have been for him.

"Hmm?" he asked, turning to face the other mage.

"Nothing, nothing," said Bathory. "Why don't you go in and familiarize yourself with the area? I need to figure out what exactly I want to throw at you."

Vaele looked back into the arena, nodded, and headed into it. He went at a light jog between the constructs into the city block found within. None of the buildings were very large – a couple stories tall at max – but there was still quite a bit of ground to cover when all was said and done.

Bathory stood at the control panel, resting both hands on it and looking down at the options. This was the hard part for him – making his own plan for Vaele. There were a hundred different options that could work, but what would work best? As he stood there, thinking it over, a thought came to him and immediately he grimaced. His fingers curled slightly and looked more like claws, and he shook his head. Down by his right wrist, Aphelion spoke up.

[MASTER, ARE YOU ALRIGHT]

"Yeah, Aphelion, I'm fine. I just…I had a thought."

[AND WHAT WOULD THAT BE]

Bathory paused. He didn't much want to go any further, but if getting it out in the open meant getting it out of him, he would do so.

"I thought about Siba again – about what we would do to the rookies back there. You remember, right? The Siban Initiation? Throw as much firepower as we can at the newbies, stomp them to the floor, all for some kind of lesson?"

[I DO REMEMBER YOUR EXPERIENCES, MY MASTER]

Bathory's face darkened as he recalled his memories of those events – both on the receiving side and, later, on the other side too.

"It was just bullying, that's all it was. It would happen to you, but hey, if you toughened it out, you'd get to do it to the next group. I thought I'd left Siba behind – two years later, I thought we'd abandoned the Siban Way. But even across all of that time, those old thoughts come back out of the ether and ask if I could do it once again."

[MASTER, YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS CONFLICT BEFORE – DO YOU REMEMBER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR PRIOR ACTIONS]

Bathory thought of a young girl, also born on Siba who was spending time on Midchilda while he was there as well. He thought of the moment Aphelion was mentioning, where provided similarly overwhelming training in the name of 'providing a helping hand', and he definitely remembered the ramifications of those actions and of his entire time on Midchilda. Subconsciously, he lifted his left leg to rub against his right leg, almost just simply feeling for if it was well and truly there.

"Minasa? Yeah, I remember her. I wonder what she's up to. I wonder where she's gotten. Nanoha would take her straight to the top, if that's how far she could go…"

Bathory smiled. He shook his head and addressed his device.

"Maybe Negati's right. Maybe we could go back to Midchilda again…"

A small screen appeared next to Bathory's head. It showed Vaele, looking right at the screen from inside the battlefield.

"Umm, Bathory, when are we starting?"

Bathory snapped back to the matter and hand. He looked through the control panel, setting up a program while responding to the boy.

"Right, right, I'm sorry. Here's what we'll do – we'll take this by section. I could spawn a city's worth of drones on you but that would be a bit much. Let's clear an area, and I'll direct you to the next part. Alright?"

Vaele nodded. He was still somewhat nervous, but he was also excited to see what he could do. With that, Bathory finished setting up the drone spawns and held his finger over the button that would begin the battle.

"Very well, then," he said. "Let's begin."

He pressed his finger down and activated the program. In the arena, Vaele stood with his device at the ready as several gadget drones began to spawn in in front of him.

* * *

Vaele was getting tired. He pushed himself up against the outer wall of a building where he hoped the drones couldn't see him, holding his device close to his body. He'd been through several battles, cleared several sections of the arena, and was probably on one of the last waves of drones. That meant that he was getting drained, though, and through his heavy breathing, he could only hope it wasn't loud enough to attract attention.

As he paused, a screen appeared next to him, with Bathory on the other end. The two had spoken intermittently, usually so Bathory could send Vaele to the next part of the battle, but now Bathory had contacted him in the middle of one.

"You're almost at the end, Vaele – you're doing great."

The boy looked over at the screen and nodded while still trying to catch his breath.

"However," said Bathory, looking down at the panel which must have been showing him some type of data about the battle, "you need to stay focused and watch out. Your accuracy's dipping, and the more shots you miss, the more the drones get to take. I don't know if you can rely on your jacket now as much as you've been doing."

Vaele looked down at his barrier jacket. It was true that he'd been surprised a few times during the battles, and his defensive spells were somewhat out of practice, and so he'd taken a few hits he shouldn't have taken. There were some small tears in the outer jacket, and it would definitely sting more to get hit now.

"Okay, okay, okay…" mumbled the boy, croaking words out in a hoarse whisper. The all-important air reaching his lungs was a higher priority than having a discussion.

"But you're close to the end, and that's all I can say" said Bathory. "Finish strong, Vaele."

The screen disappeared and Vaele was alone again on the battlefield. Taking one more deep breath, Vaele followed the wall to a corner and spun around it, aiming forward. There, further down a makeshift alleyway, was one of the drones, patrolling its route and looking for its enemy. It crossed horizontally across Vaele's sight several times during its patrol, not noticing the mage from this distance. This meant that Vaele could get a surprise attack in, if he could aim it right.

His arms had started to shake, but he steadied himself as best he could. He waited until the right moment, and as the drone was crossing his path, he fired.

The shot flew forward rapidly, intercepting the drone just as Vaele had hoped it would. The drone froze in place, shockwaves rippling through it as the energy disrupted its systems. The drone wasn't fully destroyed, but as it turned and locked its sight on the mage, it was qineffective in its attempts to counter-attack. Electricity arced across the outside of it, and as energy blades appeared on the ends of its appendages, it hovered forward, dipping and almost dragging itself along the ground as it did so. All this made for an easy target, and the mage fired once again at the drone and tore it apart.

Vaele sighed, but then he heard a mechanical sound coming up behind him, and he spun around to see another melee drone coming in for an attack. He jumped back and summoned an energy barrier, but when the drone's arm lunged forward with another energy blade, the blade pierced into the barrier. Vaele backed up even more as the drone dug the blade on its other appendage into the barrier as well and then sliced rapidly out to its sides, destroying the spell and shattering the shield. With that gone, Vaele had little in the way of defense.

The boy turned and ran, aiming back and taking near-blind shots at the drone but missing with those. He ducked into one alleyway, then turned into another – one that would get him out to a sort of 'clearing' and would maybe get him some room away from the drones. At the end of this alley, right before the exit, was a second drone, though – a ranged one.

Vaele froze in his tracks, and the ranged drone shot several balls of energy out at him. Without much defensive ability left, the boy had to duck and jump to the side to avoid these shots. After that, Vaele went to aim at the ranged drone but was stopped by the sound of the melee drone coming up behind him and blocking the other exit of the alleyway off.

The boy looked back and forth, realizing his predicament. Out at the control panel, Bathory was looking at screens that showed the boy's situation from several different angles.

"So, you've got yourself surrounded…" he mused. "Think, Vaele, figure a way out…"

The melee drone was closer to Vaele, and it started moving towards him again. Vaele saw this and aimed his weapon at it, but to his surprise, another long tendril shot out of the drone heading straight for the boy's outstretched arm. Vaele saw this and pulled the arm holding his weapon back, thrusting his other arm out to block the appendage. The tendril just wrapped itself around that arm and tried to retract itself to drag the boy forward.

"H…Hey!" shouted Vaele, "G…get…"

He pulled against the drone's hold, but it had a solid bind on the boy's arm. Then, from behind him, Vaele heard the other drone fire a shot. Rapidly, he looked over to see the burst of magic coming straight down the alleyway. In a moment of somewhat panicked genius, Vaele ducked under the shot and let it hit the melee drone, sending the robot backward and making it release its grip on his arm.

When the melee drone recovered, its eye glowed brightly and all its appendages shot out, forming blades on the end of them. It advanced, and Vaele looked on, terrified. He turned down the alley and ran as the melee drone raced after him. The ranged drone was now in front of him, and Vaele aimed forward, firing wildly to try and get the drone out of its path. Enough bullets hit the robot to send it crashing to the floor, and now Vaele had an exit into the open, barring one destroyed robot in his path.

At the controls, Bathory looked on, leaning in excitedly.

"Yes…now get out in the open, and…"

Vaele dashed down the alleyway, melee drone close behind him. The ranged drone had been disabled but its body still blocked the alleyway right before the exit to the clearing. With a surge of adrenaline, Vaele planted his feet and dove over the drone's body, spinning around in the air to fire at the melee drone. His shots connected, and the melee drone was destroyed too as Vaele fell down onto his back, laying on the ground now.

Bathory watched the event play out with a mortified expression on his face. When Vaele hit the ground, Bathory slammed his hand down on the panel, pausing the simulation, and even cried out while doing so.

"PAUSE!"

After that, he stepped into the simulation and made his way over to Vaele. The large clearing was right by the exit to the arena, so Bathory didn't have to walk very far. Vaele, still laying down, looked around, confused at the turn of events. He heard Bathory's angry footsteps and he looked over, starting to sit up.

"Bathory, are we-"

"No, no, stay down."

Confused, Vaele slowly leaned back down but remained propped up by his elbows. When Bathory got over, the older mage brought his foot up and planted it down on the boy's chest, enough to push him flat onto his back but not enough to hurt him. Vaele gasped in surprise and looked up, confused, at his tutor. The older mage stared down at him sternly.

"Ahh…uhh, Bathory, what are you…"

"And what made you think _that_ was your best option?"

Vaele just grimaced. He thought he handled that situation quite well.

"I…I mean, I…"

"Where did you learn that kind of move? Diving to the floor like some action hero - I bet you saw that in a movie, didn't you? I bet you thought that looked so cool. Well now you're on the floor at a huge disadvantage! Look around you, Vaele. Do you know where the rest of the drones are at?"

Vaele broke his gaze from Bathory's own to look around. In his position, he had to tilt his head all sorts of angles, even looking upside down behind him, but he saw what Bathory was mentioning. There were three drones – all melee drones – coming at him from different angles. As Vaele saw the targets, Bathory counted them off to prove a point.

"One – two – three. Three enemies still coming at you, and I guarantee if I didn't hit the pause button you'd have missed one of them. Even if you saw them, I don't think you could've fought them all before one got to you. I'm doing you such a favor here. You have to think smart, at all times. There's no opportunities to do something fancy at your own detriment. Now, you got in this position – you're gonna get yourself out of it."

Bathory released his foot and began to walk back to the control room. Before he got too far, however, he paused and spun back around.

"Also, you're running an extra five laps now after this - ten if you still get hit."

He resumed walking while Vaele just grimaced again and prepared to restart. He didn't realize what he'd done but Bathory was right on all counts.

Bathory got back to the control panel, and he announced himself over the speakers.

"Okay, restarting."

He hit the button and the program unpaused. The three drones raced for Vaele, and the boy had to quickly aim at the first drone, firing several shots rapidly to take it down in one burst. The shots connected, and the first drone broke apart, scattering onto the floor. Then, Vaele rolled onto his side, keeping his device gripped in both hands and aiming to fire at the next one. Another rapid burst came out, and the machine sped right into the shots, also getting incapacitated.

Now, there was just one more enemy. Vaele tried to push himself up before aiming at the drone, but it had already gotten in close and swiped at the boy, sending him back to the floor and the cost of avoiding damage. From the floor, the robot looked completely menacing, and as a red tendril shot down to try and attack, Vaele twisted away with a cry so the appendage struck the ground instead. Then, a tendril from the other side of the drone tried the same thing and Vaele had to twist to the other side. After that, another tendril shot straight for the boy, but Vaele quickly reached out and grabbed the end of the tube, intercepting it. With his own iron grip on the drone's weapon, Vaele stuck the barrel of his weapon right up against the drone's body and fired several times, blasting the robot apart at point-bank range. Bits and pieces of it fell around the young teen until the top half dropped lifelessly to the floor next to him.

Slowly, the mage released the red appendage he'd been holding onto and stood up. He was panting heavily again, and he looked around, still expecting more even though he'd been told those were the last enemies. Finally, his eyes settled on the exit to the arena, and on Bathory, who was standing next to the control panel.

The older mage looked at Vaele and smiled.

"Congratulations," said Bathory, "You won."

The buildings and drone rubble all began to deconstruct and fade out until the arena was just a large, open room again. Vaele looked around at the process, once again in awe of the technology. He'd forgotten that everything there was artificial. Then, he transformed out of his barrier jacket and his weapon changed back to a white gem. After all of that, Bathory got the boy's attention once again.

"So, I think this was a very productive first day. I think we both learned a lot and I'll pass this on to your actual Instructor to get more activities going. Now, come run some laps and I think we can break for the morning."

Sighing heavily, Vaele slowly headed over to Bathory. He was starting to wish he hadn't made Bathory give him any more exercise. Still, he got over to the other mage, and Bathory pushed him along.

"Five laps around this whole room. Better be right up against those walls!"

As the boy took off for lap one, the door into the training area from the halls of the Bureau building opened and Eratarka walked through. As she walked up to him, Bathory saw her and bowed slightly.

"Captain."

"At ease."

Bathory stood straight again and looked back at Vaele.

"So, how did our efforts go?" he asked.

"Finding Izah? Poorly. No trace of her, no idea where she could be…at the moment, we're at a loss."

Bathory crossed his arms and sighed.

"So do we have a plan?"

Eratarka also sighed.

"Not much beyond 'get her back'. That's the end goal, here."

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds simple."

The Captain shook her head and closed her eyes.

"You're seeing the part of me that sometimes has no idea what I'm doing. I try not to show that very often."

"For the moment, Captain, you're in very good company."

Vaele had run one lap around the room, and he passed by the two adults before beginning his next lap.

"So, let's think for a second" said Eratarka. "Let's start at the top. We get Izah's name and face out on every channel, board, and location we can put it on. We get everyone alerted that we need this woman brought in. And wherever she is, no doubt, she will see that we need her back."

"No, no, that's excessive," said Bathory. "This isn't a matter of public interest – at least, not yet. We don't want to punish her for what she's done. It wasn't even her, really – it was that paranoia her pills have given her."

Eratarka held her chin in one of her hands, thinking deeply.

"But on the other extreme, if we leave all the decisions to her…"

"…Will she come back on her own accord?" said Bathory.

They paused, and the Captain shook her head again.

"No, no, too risky as well. Without our knowing, her problem only got worse. If we don't try and step in somehow, what's to say it won't continue like that?"

Bathory nodded and looked over at Vaele again as the boy kept doing his extra workout.

"That's why I was hoping we could get her brother involved. He's worried for her, and she respects his wishes. Maybe if Vaele wants her to turn herself in and let us help, she just might listen to him."

Bathory and Eratarka watched Vaele run along his path, the boy struggling and panting yet still keeping one foot in front of the other. Then, Eratarka looked back at Bathory.

"So, how'd he do? Looks like I missed it."

Bathory smiled.

"Good. He did fine. I said this to him already, but he has the talent and just needs the experience. It was rough, but he stayed upright – well, most of the time – and won in the end."

Bathory looked down at Aphelion, and his device projected a screen with some of the results and stats from the training session.

"He's obviously not AAA, like his sister, but he's not weak. There's more potential here than he thinks he has."

Vaele has been coming up behind the group, and he slowed to a stop next to Bathory. He was bent over, with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Bathory looked over and put his hand on the boy's shoulder again.

"Hey, Vaele, good work. You're doing great. Now, too bad that was only 4 laps – we need one more."

Vaele looked up at Bathory briefly before lowering his head again. He had been hoping Bathory was too distracted to notice.

"Yeah…I…I just have to catch my breath…" he said, playing it off.

"One more – just a little more – you can do it" encouraged Bathory.

With his hand still on Vaele's shoulder, he started to push the boy forward, and Vaele responded, standing up straight and jogging off again.

Eratarka and Bathory watched the boy and they both smirked, sharing a knowing glance.

* * *

 **2\. Gratification**

Outside, it was another sunny, peaceful day. A light wind brushed the tops of the tall trees, and recurring bird calls populated the forest with the sounds of activity. The sunlight fluttered through the canopy, making its way down to the forest floor and down onto the roof of an abandoned shack built just off the main road, far enough in that the road had shown cracks, potholes, and disrepair. All of those had made it tough for a white van, with its own myriad of problems, to make it down that road and off into the wilderness to the front of this shack.

Inside, the sunlight made its way through cracks in the roof made by offset wooden beams that had lost their covering. Right below those cracks, on the floor, were now small shapes of light projected onto the dark wood. Not to say the rest of the room was nearly black – enough light filtered in from the cracks in the roof as well as the wide-open, broken windows to make everything clear.

On the floor of the abandoned house were two figures, laying with the top of their heads against one of the walls. One figure laid on her back, staring straight up, while the other rested on her side, one arm draped over the first figure. Izah was the first, and Asana was the second.

Asana was awake, but she remained where she was. She thought her master was still asleep, and she would wait there by Izah's side until Izah awoke. Part of it was just worry, and part of it was a sense of protection, both towards Izah's vulnerable state.

Izah had awoken a couple minutes ago, but she had chosen to remain still, looking up and watching the sun fall through the cracks like a mosaic. There was nothing she needed to do anymore – nowhere she needed to be. After her and Asana's escape yesterday, they were well and truly on their own.

A bird must have landed on the roof of the shed and its cry was louder than the other birdcalls that had become background noise. Slightly startled, Asana gripped Izah's shirt with her outstretched hand and murmured. Izah wondered how long they would have rested there, completely still, and now that this was broken, it was time to speak up.

"Asana."

The fox familiar's eyes shot open. Startled, she raised her head and looked down at her master.

"M…Miss Izah! You're awake. A-are you hungry? I can see what we have, and-"

Izah raised her arm and put her hand on the back of Asana's head, scratching the girl behind her animal ears and interrupting her.

"No, no, no need for that. I am not hungry yet."

This should have been pleasurable for Asana, but there was something wrong about Izah's tone, something so resigned and resolved that scared the younger familiar. It was like Izah was just going through the motions.

"U…um…" said Asana, now worried. "M…Miss Izah, are…are you…"

Again, Izah interrupted her.

"And oh, you poor thing, were you also sleeping on such a hard surface? No, no, no need, no need. I am here for you, Asana. Lay down."

Izah's hand now gripped the back of Asana's head and forced the girl's head back down, now onto her master's breasts. Asana fought back, but Izah's pull was stronger, and the fox girl was forced to rest there, intentionally pressed against her master's body by Izah herself. The near-desperation of the act almost brought tears to Asana's eyes; this was not Izah's normal behavior, and this was almost frightening to experience.

"M…Miss Izah…" Asana stammered, though her voice was caught in her throat and it was barely audible.

"Shh, shh, lay back down, Asana," Izah whispered. "I don't mind. It's the least I can do – atone for what I've put us through."

There it was – Asana's tears broke and ran down onto Izah's shirt. The familiar clenched her teeth and finally found her voice.

"No, Miss Izah! This isn't your fault. Don't say things like that!"

While Asana was a shaking, gibbering mess, Izah just remained still, little emotion apparent in her face or tone.

"Asana, I am glad we could speak. I am finally lucid once again – yesterday, and last night, I had to lock myself away to avoid realizing just what happened. But now, it is said and done. And now, I can think clearly."

She smiled, but her eyes didn't match the expression. They stayed empty and drooped.

"Asana, I have told you how I used to be – before you found me and saved my life. Before I was weak, and powerless, and unable to control myself."

Asana still shuttered under Izah's strong grip. She was almost afraid to move.

"Um…" she said, "you're not…w…weak…"

"Yes, I am. I am unable to support you or Vaele. I am unable to do what is right for myself. I know deep inside you must despise me."

Asana looked up at her master's face as much as she could, and she wrapped her arm back around Izah's midsection.

"No! No!" she yelled. "I like you, Miss Izah. I don't hate you – I want us to be happy. I want you to get better so we can both be happy!"

Izah breathed in and then let it out slowly.

"But as I said, I used to be different. I was arrogant, and rude, and only had myself in mind. I was powerful, and I made sure that I showed it. All of this – the injuries, this weakness, this addiction – is all deserved."

Asana returned to silently crying, trying to shake her head to disagree but still being held down firmly by her master's hand. Izah let her own words run in her head, feeling the sting reaffirming itself every time. Her body was clothed but her soul was bare, head hung low in shame and naked prostration. Her spirit was gone and she knew not to try and recover it. If she reached out, it would have fallen through her hands.

The fox-girl's weak voice interrupted Izah from her thoughts.

"But…Miss Izah, we have to do something. We can't just stay here. Y…you don't have a lot of those…those pills, do you?"

Izah sighed again. With her free hand, she felt inside her pocket for the pills she had left. There weren't many yesterday when she flew back home and escaped, and her supply had only gone down from there.

"You are correct, Asana. I am running out of time. I have lost much of those pills to the TSAB, without way to retrieve them."

A small glimmer of hope appeared deep in Asana's chest for the first time that conversation. She tried looking back up at Izah's face again.

"Miss Izah, maybe that's the answer. You cooperate with the TSAB, and they can get you the pills, and they'll find another way to get you better!"

"No, no, how many times must I say it? They'll make me let these go, and I'll die if that happens – I know I will. Trust me, Asana, I know I will. I need my supply back, but I won't let the Bureau control me. I will get them back. I will find a way."

Izah grinned, one with mischief spread across it and now reflected across her entire face.

"Asana, I remember who I was. That part of me has been buried, but I can make it return to the surface."

The fox girl froze again, wide-eyed. She was very confused.

"W…wh…what do you mean, Miss Izah?"

"I am not happy for what I must do, Asana, but the soul knows I am capable of evil. I'm not kissing anyone's ring. I'm getting them back myself. The TSAB took something from me, so what if I take something from them?"

Izah's words now scared Asana. She threatened to cry again, but now for a different reason.

"M…Miss Izah, please no, think about this."

"I am. I'm thinking this through. I'm getting a plan, and I like this plan. Come on, Asana, no time to waste."


	12. Darkens the Will Part 1

**A/N:** This chapter's name comes from the song **Darkens the Will** by the band **From Beneath Billows**. Like a lot of the other bands I reference, they're a great post-metal band that has their music up on bandcamp.

* * *

 **Chapter 12 - Darkens the Will (Part 1)**

* * *

It was now the afternoon, and Bathory and Negati were heading back home. They had met up near the end, checking over the complete lack of updates on the search for Izah. Their hope had partly turned into worry, now that a full day had passed since Izah had escaped, but they tried not to show that too much. However, he had just stepped in the doorway to his home when a new conflict presented itself.

Arin stood there, tall, firm, and already with a slight scowl on his face.

"Bathory."

Bathory looked up at him. There wasn't much else he could do, given that the other man was already in his personal space. Bathory responded, confused and awkwardly.

"Umm, hey? Good afternoon?"

"While you were out, I spent significant time thinking about my situation. And I wish to speak with you about it."

Negati had also been stuck in place behind her boyfriend, also barred from entering their home. She responded now, trying to look over the tall man's shoulder to see if he was hiding anything.

"Yeah, so, why are you blocking the door again, Arin?"

Bathory chuckled, still feeling the piercing stare from the other man.

"I mean, give me a few minutes but yeah, we can chat."

"No," replied Arin, "we are doing this now."

He grabbed Bathory's wrist and began walking over to the couch, dragging the other man along with him. He ignored the reactionary pleas from Bathory and Negati and shoved Bathory forward toward the couch. Bathory turned so he ended up sitting normally instead of getting sprawled out, but now there was an incredulous look on the face.

"Arin, wha – ugh, okay, fine. Fine, let's go."

Negati stood next to Arin, crossing her arms and also looking agitated.

"So what do you want me to do?" she asked. "Just stand here?"

Arin kept his gaze on Bathory but addressed Negati.

"You are not currently the focus of my attention. This is none of your business."

"So you want me to just leave? Ignore this?" she said. "You live with us. This is, in fact, also my business."

With all three now in an irritable mood, Bathory sighed and shook his head.

"Okay, you want to talk, let's talk."

Arin kept glaring down, his voice mostly normal but with a definite undertone of frustration.

"Very well. As you both know, I am now under house arrest by this point by the Captain's orders."

Bathory sighed again.

"Yep, we were there when that happened. I told you to leave it. Either way, I don't think she literally meant you couldn't do anything. Just…stay out of our mission for the moment. Did you get out at all? You need to get out some."

"No, I did not. I took this time I was given to think and reflect on my situation. This is an interesting turn of events, as I am able to feel something more often than I am usually able to do. I do not know if I am quite used to this again."

"That's…not necessarily good," said Negati, "if that means you're letting your anger control you and charge you into these situations."

"Do you know what it's like," said Arin, looking bath and forth between the other mages and raising his voice, "to be trapped in your own head for the rest of your life? Do you know how it feels to feel nothing? Nothing except for some anger that I have to just bury away, lest it leads me somewhere just like this? I don't, obviously. I don't feel that. I estimate it would be somewhere between depressing and horrifying. And I am not even given that. All I am given is the growing realization every single day that this is who I am, and I will never. Get. Better."

There was a capstone of silence on the end of that speech. Bathory and Negati both stared at Arin, trying to find the words to say. Finally, Bathory stammered something out.

"Arin, I…I know you feel that-"

"You don't know" said the taller man harshly. "Don't tell me you know what I feel."

Negati uncrossed her arms and raised her voice as well.

"Hey, we're just trying to relate to you-"

"And you can't, so stop trying!"

In one sudden action, Bathory stood up and leaned in, now joining the other two in their argument.

"Do you want us to listen or not, then? Do you want us to talk? If not, then I'll just walk away and leave you to sit here, all by yourself. This is not a one way street. I'm sorry I can't help as much as you want. I tried to make you better, and it didn't work. But I did the best I could, and if you-"

"Will you stop doing that?" said Arin. "I don't care about your efforts, or your situation, or your struggles, or any of the shit you constantly spew out of your mouth to look valiant. Look around you. What has all your 'suffering' gotten you? A perfectly normal life. Friends. A partner. The whole entire sky right in front of you to go in any direction you want. But what did I get? What did I earn for getting caught in your crossfire? I was ruined. Broken, if you will. Cut off from everyone around me."

Negati rolled her eyes and stepped back in.

"Arin, shut up. You made some bad decisions, and that's why the Captain's mad with you. Why don't you put all the facts together and see that we'll treat you better if you act better? It's not about who you are."

Arin lowered his voice, but now he added a near-sinister edge.

"But it is. My situation goes a step deeper than you believe. My anger is not the root, it is a reaction. A reaction to what I see in your eyes when you look at me. Everyone. They're scared of me. I'm an oddity. A danger. I'm not like the rest of you."

Bathory shook his head again.

"That's nonsense. No one thinks that. You've worked yourself up into speaking gibberish."

Arin leaned in towards Bathory so that there was only inches between the two's faces.

"I'm not so sure about that, Bathory. What do you think of me? Are you scared of me?"

"I – Arin, I'm not playing along with this."

"Answer me, Bathory. You're scared of me."

"I – well, when you attacked me, yes, I was scared, but not all the time."

"But I'm the flaw in your perfect life. I'm the reminder of how it all went wrong. Tell me Bathory, do you regret me?"

Bathory's eyes went wide for a second before narrowing again. Then, despite knowing he needed to stay calm, he began to give in.

"Don't go back to this. Leave me out of it already. The past is the past."

"Tell me already. Do you regret me? Am I your biggest regret?"

Bathory raised his voice again.

"I know what you want to hear. I know what you want me to do."

Arin matched him, and then began escalating.

"Then answer me. You made me this way."

"I'm not doing this, Arin! I'm not playing your games."

Arin suddenly reached forward, grabbing the back of Bathory's head and pulling him in, filling Bathory's vision with a crazed, maniacal man.

"Your 'creation' wants an answer, Bathory! _YOUR CREATION WANTS AN ANSWER!"_

Bathory pushed Arin back, stunning the man, and when Arin looked up again, Aphelion had transformed and was aiming right at him. Arin reached for his device and activated it as well. It expanded, and the rotating blades on both ends of the staff spun about in the living room of the house.

Next to them, Negati brought her arms up as well and pointed one at each man. The red markings ran up her arms and glowed boldly, ready for her magic to be used.

"Boys, enough!" she cried. "We are not going any further. Bathory, you're falling for it. You're doing what he wants. He's pushing your buttons and getting you angry so he can feel justified with his own anger. All he wants is validation, and we're not going to give it to him. Arin, this is not good, and we are not going to reward this."

Bathory stared at Arin, but listened to what Negati said. It was scary to think, but it all made sense. Arin wanted to get angry, and he wanted to stay angry, and what better way than to drag someone else in to feed off them? Calming down, Bathory deactivated Aphelion and it returned to its standby form, hanging down by the back of his wrist from the cord wrapped around his lower arm.

"Okay…" said Bathory. "You're right. I'm sorry, but I'm not playing this game anymore. We can talk, but we need to be reasonable. Understood?"

Arin's eyes darted between the other two. His white-knuckled grip on Retrigal slowly loosened, and he finally retracted his weapon as well. He didn't respond to Bathory, though. He just turned and walked around the other side of the couch and over to his room. Once inside, he reached back, and with a firm push on the door, he swung it closed.

Back in the living room, the patterns on Negati's arms quit glowing, and she lowered her arms back to her sides. She walked the couple steps over to Bathory and stood next to him, looking at the door that Arin was now behind.

"Well…" was all she could muster.

Bathory sighed and looked down at the floor.

"I…I don't know what I'm supposed to say. What do I say to convince him?"

Negati reached out and hugged Bathory, lightly bringing him in.

"I'm just nervous, now. Nervous that there's gonna be another argument. I don't really want to come home to this more than once."

"I know. This is…a new side of him, or at least a new level. I thought he was coping. I thought he'd been going along just fine."

Both mages struggled with a tough feeling in the waning light of the argument – the want to help their friend while at the same time, wanting to avoid that kind of emotion again. Bathory looked up, back over to the front door, and put an arm around Negati, rubbing her shoulder.

"I still need to get to the market. I was going to wait a bit but now I should probably get some space between Arin and I just in case. Let me go do that and I'll think about where to go from here with him. Alright?"

Negati nodded and released Bathory.

"And I'll just be here" she said. "I have some work I can finish up."

Bathory nodded and he smiled. A quick kiss, and he went for the door. He hadn't even gotten to take his shoes off, so he was able to just go back outside to the car and head out to run a couple errands.

* * *

Some time later, Arin had finally left his room and moved over to the couch. Negati remained over at the kitchen table, nesting a cup of tea and watching Arin reposition but otherwise not interacting with him. Then, she had gotten back to her work, typing on a virtual screen projected from her storage device.

As Arin checked up on various pages with a screen projected by his own device, Retrigal began to blink and emitted a repetitive tune as it received a call. Arin glanced at the notification that popped up, but didn't seem to care, and he let it continue ringing. As it did so, Negati finally looked over at him.

"You gonna get that?" she asked.

"I do not believe so," replied Arin.

"Who's it from?"

Arin glanced over again and responded in his normal, monotone voice.

"Greater Call."

Negati's eyes shot open. Greater Call – that was Izah Lumiere's device! She grabbed her own storage device and practically fell out of her seat trying to dash over to the couch.

"And you're not answering?" she cried.

The man shrugged and resumed what he was doing as Negati rushed over.

"If I am not currently involved in your operation, then-"

Negati made her way around the couch and ran up to Arin, grabbing at the screen.

"Retrigal, answer!"

She turned the screen to face her as the transmission connected and a video began displaying. It was the feed from Greater Call. On the opposite end, there was what looked like a dark room, with few discernible details, but that was all. No sign of Izah.

"Izah?" cried Negati. "Izah, are you there?"

A hand reached across the video feed as someone grabbed the device and slowly pulled it up to shift the viewpoint. As Greater Call was moved, there seemed to be skylights visible on the ceiling of whatever area the call was coming in from. It looked like a large, somewhat-empty storage room. But as the screen moved, Asana was soon front and center on the screen, holding the device shakily to reveal herself. She looked distraught, and her voice was timid and reserved.

"Um…hello?" she asked.

"Asana!" said Negati, "Where are you? Where's Izah?"

Asana looked offscreen momentarily, then looked back. She was trying to hold back tears, but they were quickly forming.

"I…no, it's just me. I'm alone."

Negati paused, now more confused and worried.

"You're alone? What happened?"

"No, no, no…nothing bad…I just had to run. Miss Izah…she's not good. I had to go."

Negati took a deep breath and leaned in more.

"Asana, talk to me. What's going on?"

The foxgirl shut her eyes and shook her head wildly, more responding to herself than to Negati.

"No, no, no, I can't…I can't just…"

"Asana!" shouted Negati. "Where are you? I'll come get you. Hold on, I'll get you to safety…It's all going to be okay, understand? It's going to be okay."

As Negati was speaking, Asana looked off to the side again. She winced, and her shoulders sagged, but as Negati finished speaking, the familiar looked back at the screen.

"Um…Greater Call can tell you, right?"

Greater Call began to blink and respond to Asana.

[I HAVE TRACKED OUR CURRENT LOCATION – TRANSMITTING NOW]

As Retrigal received the info from Izah's device, Negati looked down at the grey gem.

"Retrigal, send this over to me as well."

Arin's device glowed and responded in a similarly robotic fashion.

[UNDERSTOOD]

Negati checked her own device and then looked back at the screen.

"Okay, Asana, I'll be over as fast as I can. Just remember that it's going to be okay. Alright?"

Asana nodded meekly once, and then ended the transmission. The screen faded out, and Negati ran over to get ready to leave again. As she put on her shoes, she looked over at Arin.

"You want to come with?" she asked rapidly.

Arin stared straight ahead.

"I thought I was expected to stay out of the current events for the time being, so I will-"

Not patient enough to let him finish, Negati pulled the front door open and interrupted the other mage.

"Got it, fine, I'll keep you in the loop once we get her back to base. Later."

She raced outside, shutting the door behind her and dashing over to the other car. She pulled out her device and saw that the data for Asana's location was downloaded. Jumping into the driver's seat of the car and turning it on, she brought the storage device up to her mouth and spoke to it.

"Also, call Bathory."

The device did not verbally respond, but it brought up a screen showing the insignia of the TSAB as it waited for Bathory to answer. Negati was off the driveway and speeding down the road when Bathory answered and his face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Negati. Forget something we need?"

"Bathory, we got a transmission from Izah's device."

Bathory's eyes opened wide now, and he responded more seriously.

"You did?"

"Asana was on the other end - it sounds like she took the device and ran. I'm gonna get over there and pick her up. It sounds like she's scared, and she needs our help as much as we need hers."

"So…so what's the plan once you get her?"

"Get her over to the Captain. Go back to work. I'll keep you posted once that happens, okay?"

Bathory took a deep breath. Things were suddenly playing out faster than he expected.

"Okay. Okay, Negati. See you later."

Negati ended the call, and the screen from her device changed to show the location of Greater Call's signal and the best route over to that part of town. It was near the edge of the city, down by the river and that large bridge spanning it and leading out into the forest. It was a bit of a drive, and Negati only hoped she caught up to Asana before Izah did.

* * *

She made it across the city, hands gripped tightly to the wheel, checking constantly to see that the beacon was remaining in the same place. By the end, Negati found herself in an unpopulated area, with no traffic on the roads and just empty buildings on the sides of the road. They all looked like warehouses or storage areas – nothing meant to attract a lot of attention or customers. Finally, the beacon closed in on the inside of a nondescript-looking building. Negati drove up to the front, skidding to a stop and then jumping out of the car, running for an open door that led into the building.

"Asana?" she shouted. "Asana?"

She entered inside, and it matched what the area Asana called her from looked like. Dim, mostly dark with some light peering in through skylights. Not too dark to make out what was inside, but what was inside wasn't much. A large collection of crates and boxes was stacked to one side, and the machinery to move said boxes was also there, parked to the other side. The middle, though, was empty.

Negati slowed down, looking around at the sights. It was almost eerie how silent it was.

Silence – Negati noticed that. It was silent. No one came to greet her.

"Asana?" she asked again. "Asana, can you hear me?"

Then, she heard something faint. There were sounds, and their location was obscured behind the row of boxes in front of Negati. As the redhead walked further into the open room, the sounds became more audible, until Negati could tell what they were – the sound of someone crying.

The mage picked up her pace, and ran around the row of boxes to see what was on the other side. There, kneeling on the ground and pitched forward, supported with her hands on the ground as well, was Asana.

Negati only pause for a moment before running over to the figure.

"Asana! There you are."

The familiar didn't seem to hear Negati at first. The mage had to kneel down in front of her and put her arms on the scared girl before Asana looked up. Her eyes were red, and she was obviously distraught. Negati looked her in the eyes, then pulled Asana in for a hug, rubbing the foxgirl's back as well.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you"

Asana looked down, and she continued to whimper.

"I…I…" she stammered.

"It's okay," Negati repeated. Then, after a few seconds, she released Asana and spoke to her.

"You left Izah, you said?"

Asana nodded, muttering a little affirmation.

"Do you know where she is?"

Asana froze. Through her eyes and expression, she rapidly went through multiple emotions before her eyes shut tight again and she buried her head back in Negati's chest. Here arms wrapped tightly around Negati's back.

"I'm sorry! I'm doing such a bad thing."

Neagati looked down, caught off guard by the response and the uncomfortable force of Asana's grip.

"A…a bad thing?" she said. "Leaving Izah? You know she needs our help, and if this is the only way…"

"No, no, not that…not that…"

"Then what? You're trying to protect your master, right?"

Asana failed to answer that as well, and now her voice just sounded defeated.

"I'm…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what?" Negati asked. "Asana, what are you sorry for?"

The entire time, another mage had been listening in from above. As the show went on, and as Asana carried out her duty perfectly, the other mage smiled and slowly descended down to the floor behind the kneeling TSAB officer. Izah Lumiere had taken Greater Call, and now it was active, transformed into a pistol that Izah held tightly in her hand. She stood on the ground again just behind Negati, and the ground mage was oblivious until she felt the barrel of a weapon pointed into her back.

Negati's eyes shot open wide. Behind her, Izah smirked viciously and answered for her familiar.

"Sorry for this, probably."

* * *

In the afternoon, while the sun was still up and the temperature remained mild, there was a local market set up in one of the city squares. Vendors came out to set up their stalls with all of their different produce on display – vegetables and fruits fresh from the field as well as baked goods, sweets, and other concoctions. At one of the stalls, Bathory stood in front of it, looking down at the baskets filled with different vegetables. He was already supporting several bags of goods already bought with one arm, and with the other, he checked the product, looking to see that it was in good condition. Satisfied, he gathered several of that type into another bag and looked over at the vendor.

Behind the stall was an older woman, but right now she was chatting loudly with someone else, perhaps a friend, family member, or just a very talkative customer. Bathory didn't mind waiting, though – there were several things on his mind, and it would give him a second to think some things through.

He sighed lightly and looked down at his right hand. He brought Aphelion up to face him.

"I know, Aphelion – I know I'm stalling for time."

The dark green gem pulsed as it responded.

[ON WHAT MATTER]

"I think you know. I'd – I'd told myself that any day now, sooner or later, once Negati and I have the right moment, the right timing, then I'd maybe talk to her about…well…you know…getting married."

[YOU SHOULD NOT FEEL AS IF YOU ARE STALLING, MY MASTER – YOU WILL KNOW WHEN YOU ARE READY]

Bathory shook his head and laughed nervously.

"No, I – I am, trust me – I am. I'm not even asking her the question here; I'm just asking her if she's expecting the question. That's, like, nothing, I mean that's…that's just checking up with her. That's just being on the same page."

[SO WHAT IS PREVENTING YOU FROM DOING SO]

Bathory took a deep breath.

"Me. I mean, what answer do you want me to give? I just…There's a good time but then I don't feel right, or I don't know what to say once I get there…but again, that should be the easy part…"

[DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY OUTSIDE OF THESE MOMENTS]

"Yeah, yeah, of course, easy."

[THEN WHAT WOULD THAT BE, MASTER]

"I'd…I'd just look at her, all normal, like any other conversation, and say…"

Bathory laughed again and looked around, making sure Negati wasn't secretly right behind him or anywhere nearby. He was only as talkative _because_ this wasn't happening for real. He closed his eyes then and looked forward, imagining Negati standing there.

"I'd say…I'd say, Negati, ever since we journeyed together and moved to a whole new planet, we've been there to support each other. And as we went on, and…and developed, and got closer, I've always been so happy that you're here to share this with me – all the little moments, and things that have happened, and the things we want to happen too…so, I want to ask, because I've been feeling strongly about this recently…do you think, soon, you would be ready to get married?"

Bathory kept his eyes shut tightly. Even with this fictional version of his girlfriend that he'd imagined speaking to, he stood there nervously, worried for how she'd respond. He thought about what he had said as well; if that was how he would say it, would that be good enough? No, no, maybe it was too direct – or maybe it was the opposite. He definitely rambled too much – Negati would want him to cut to the chase. But he couldn't be too direct, or she'd think he didn't really mean it…

On the other side of the food cart, the older woman chuckled and responded.

"Well, I may be a little out of your age range, don't you think?"

As soon as she began speaking, Bathory's eyes shot open and he froze in place. He felt like he sank into his shoes, his mortified embarrassment the only thing keeping him rigid and upright. Someone had heard all of that? That whole bit of sappy romance?

Quickly, he tried to play it off, holding his hands up in front of him.

"No, no, no, I – I was – I wasn't saying it to you, I was just…just practicing it, not – not – no, I –"

The vendor chuckled again and interrupted Bathory.

"I know, I know. Just giving you a hard time. Are you making a purchase?"

Still embarrassed, Bathory nodded and held the bag up before handing over some money. As the woman handed him his change, she said one last bit to him.

"I'm sure that if you truly mean it, she thinks the same way. Good luck!"

Bathory bowed slightly and walked away. Once he was a couple steps out, he let out a deep sigh, finally feeling himself calm down.

"Aphelion, you're supposed to warn me when I'm making a fool of myself."

With some room to breathe, he started looking through the bags of good that he had bought, checking to see what else was needed back at the house.

Suddenly, Aphelion pulsed again.

{EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION FROM NEGATI WINTER]

Bathory looked down rapidly at his device.

"Negati?" he asked, worried. "What's going on?"

The green gem projected a screen and Bathory looked up at it. It was an automatic transmission from Negati's device, sent to her designated emergency contact – Bathory. The screen interface showed info about Negati's vitals, including info about her linker core that indicated something was wrong. She was fighting, that's for sure – and she was using quite a bit of her mana to do so.

Bathory stared at the screen. What was happening to Negati? She went to go get Asana – she said something about the familiar calling her. But if she went to do so…what if someone else came after Asana? What if Izah was there?

Bathory couldn't stand around. He had to get over and protect Negati. He dropped the groceries to the ground and clutched his device tightly.

"Aphelion, we need to go! Standard form, Flight Driver!"

Aphelion quickly transformed back around his right arm, and a thin blade of energy formed from the groove on the side of the device. Bathory had brought himself some attention, and as the other people at the market watched him, they jumped out of his way as the mage ran forward before swinging the device down until the energy blade cut into the ground. Then, his device began to propel him quickly along the ground down the rest of the market as people further down had to scramble to the side. Once he was out of the clearing, Bathory transformed into his battier jacket and sped down the middle of the road, glancing over at a screen that now showed Negati's position before he'd glance ahead again.

" _I'm coming, Negati…"_ he said telepathically. " _I'm coming to get you. Just hold on, I'll be there soon."_


	13. Darkens the Will Part 2

**Chapter 13 - Darkens the Will (Part 2)**

* * *

Bathory raced through the city streets, his device cutting into the ground and propelling him along with a dark green trail of energy. He was away from the center hub of the city, and as he reached the outer streets, the area began to look more like a ghost town. Storage units and empty warehouses lined the street, projecting outward with featureless and drably-colored walls.

Bathory glanced over at the screen his device was showing him, showing the location of Negati's signal. She was close.

"Please be okay," Bathory muttered. "Please be okay…"

Finally, he reached where the signal was, and he saw in front of one nondescript building the car Negati had driven over with. Bathory cut off his Flight Driver spell, launching himself up and flipping back around to his feet. He landed and skidded up to the building, transitioning into a run toward an open door on the front wall of the warehouse. Aphelion was activated around his arm and he was in his barrier jacket, ready to fight.

"Negati!" he cried. "Negati!"

The sun had traveled most of the way across the sky, and little light streamed in through the skylights in the roof. It wasn't pitch-black, but across the large room, boxes and scaffolding seemed to morph together into a towering figure, just out of sight of clarity. Bathory ran into the open room and paused, aiming Aphelion to both sides, looking for his partner.

"Negati? Where are you? Answer me!"

He received no response and continued on, pushing forward and looking behind each row of boxes he passed. He rapidly scanned the area as he went, trying to find some form of life or sort of clue to where Negati or her attacker was.

After a few more steps, he looked in front of him again, and across the room, he could just barely make out a figure standing in the warehouse as well. He couldn't see any other details, just that the shape looked human. Was it Negati?

"Negati?" he asked. "Can you hear me?"

He moved closer, and soon he could make out details. This person was too tall, and her hair was light orange instead of red. The other figure chuckled and looked up.

It was Izah.

"Well," said the air mage, "what a treat. I didn't know you would be joining us."

When she spoke, Bathory froze in place and aimed Aphelion at her. Her inflection was too sinister to not be leading anywhere.

"Izah, what's going on? Where's Negati?"

The air mage chuckled again and grinned.

"Don't you worry. She's been here with me the whole time."

Izah reached behind her, and that's when Bathory noticed another figure next to Izah, obscured by the standing mage and kneeling down. With a forceful push, Izah grabbed the figure and threw them forward.

Negati tumbled to the ground, arms trapped at her sides by light orange rings of energy that wrapped around her midsection. She grunted when she slammed against the concrete floor, and when she finally recovered, she looked up at Bathory as much as she could. Signs of a fight were clearly visible from the bruises on her face.

"Bathory…" she muttered weakly, "run…"

Bathory just stood there, staring down at his partner and unable to move. His mouth twitched, trying to speak but unable to do so. His reaction went from fear to anger, and he looked back up at Izah. Aphelion remained aimed straight forward.

"Izah, please, listen to me" he said. "It doesn't have to be like this."

Izah reached down and grabbed Negati by her head, pulling her up and forcing the ground mage back to her knees. Negati thrashed once in the bindings, but they kept firm and she didn't have the energy to do much else. She stayed on her knees, partly hunched over and staring at the ground.

Izah remained mildly amused. Her smile never faded. In her other hand, she activated her device and Greater Call rested in her grip as the dark blue pistol, active but pointed at the floor.

"Now that you're involved, I hope you don't try and play the hero," she said. "That didn't work out very well for your partner."

Bathory kept his eyes on her, but they kept slipping down to take short glances at the defeated mage, her hair hanging down over her sunken face.

"What's going on, then?" he asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"I figured it would be obvious. You stole something from Asana and I, so I'm looking to make a trade and get it back."

At the mention of Izah's familiar, Asana revealed herself, slinking out of the shadows to Bathory's side. Bathory rapidly looked over at her, assuming some kind of ambush, but Asana didn't seem to be doing that. She looked unwilling, hesitating and glancing away from everyone. She had a nervous frown, and Bathory could tell she didn't want to be here.

"Whatever you're doing, Izah," said Bathory, "there's a better way. Release Negati and talk to me."

Izah's smile finally dropped away. Her eyebrows narrowed, and her other hand wrapped tighter around Greater Call.

"I am not doing that. You're going to do what I want," she said forcefully. "Deactivate your weapon and give it to Asana, now."

The foxgirl looked over at her master, and Izah quickly glanced at her. The air mage nodded, and Asana seemed even more frightened.

Bathory had so many things to think about. If Izah tried to fight him, how would it go? She was stronger, but could he maybe escape? If he could get himself and Negati out of here, they would be safe and the Bureau would know what mental state Izah was at now. One thing was for sure, though – he couldn't just give in.

He took a deep breath.

"No."

Izah scowled.

"Come on, listen to me and surrender."

"I am not going to do that, Izah."

Izah was angry now, and raised Greater Call up to aim it at Bathory.

"Don't make me hurt you too!"

"I'm not standing down until _you_ do!"

Izah aimed Greater Call, ready to fire, while Bathory stood in place, ready to defend against the shot and move in. He wouldn't fire the first shot, just in case the air mage could calm herself and come down from her insanity. After a couple seconds of frozen silence, though, Izah's eyes drifted down to the mage kneeling by her feet. She looked at Bathory again, then looked back down, her arm slowly lowering.

"Or maybe…" she muttered, "I can make you listen…"

Quickly, she grabbed Negati's head and yanked it back, forcing the other woman to quit hunching over. Negati gasped as her back was straight and Izah's fingers pulled on her hair. Then, suddenly, Greater Call was pointed directly at her and the end of its barrel was pressed into Negati's temple.

Bathory felt another rapid surge of energy, and he took a step forward, now yelling at Izah.

"Don't you dare get her involved again!"

Izah looked down at her hostage mischievously, and then without raising her own voice, she gave her device an order.

"Greater call, authorize lethal magic."

The blue pistol glowed in her hand.

[AUTHORIZING]

On the sides of the weapon, where some lights normally glowed neon-green to show that magic was flowing through the device, the colors now transitioned to a bold red. The device made a sound as something within changed to accommodate the new setting, and Negati audibly gasped. Her eyes shot over to look at the weapon that could now send a deadly blast of energy into her skull.

Bathory also froze once again. His eyes went wide, and he stared forward.

"L…Lethal magic?" he asked.

Magic could be lethal – everyone knew that. A magic blade could be formed to actually pierce skin and tissue, and magic shots and beams could be constructed to melt flesh and bone. It wasn't an ability that only the most able had; it was a part of the system itself, no different than how muscles in the body could be pushed harder than normal. But under the governance of the Bureau, it was outlawed and practically banned. When magic could so easily stun and disable without lasting harm, why would lethal force need to be used? It was pushed away, for use only by those without boundaries or without rational thought. And looking at Izah, she seemed to fit both those criteria.

Bathory couldn't take his eyes away from the weapon now. This little act changed everything. This wasn't just a decision of what abuse him and Negati could take – this was a life or death decision. Izah noticed Bathory's rapid loss of aggression and spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Look. Look at this. One little act – One little decision – and something happens that you can't take back."

Bathory didn't respond. He kept staring down at Negati, now watching as her eyes began to shimmer with the onset of tears. Losing a battle and hearing Izah's taunting was one thing, and it left her angered and defeated, but now she was scared. Feeling it harder to breathe, she looked at Bathory, meeting his gaze and almost pleading with her wide open eyes before shutting them tightly and clenching her teeth together. She shuddered.

Izah kept looking forward, waiting for the officer to respond. When he was still hesitant, she taunted him again.

"Tick tock…tick tock…"

Bathory's mouth was dry. Even if he wanted to speak, he couldn't. A cocktail of emotions pulled him every which way, feeling like was getting pulled apart from the inside. The weapon against his partner's temple was almost too much to comprehend, until finally Negati opened her eyes again and her expression immediately sent an answer to Bathory's mind.

Nobody needed to get killed today. Some things just weren't worth dying for.

"Okay!" Bathory yelled, bringing his arms out and holding his hands up. He quickly transformed out of his barrier jacket, and Aphelion returned to the dark green gem that hung around his right wrist.

"Okay, okay, I give up," he said. "I give up. I surrender. You hear me? I surrender. Just…get that thing away from Negati."

Izah smirked again and nodded.

"Very good. Now give Asana your device."

Greater Call was still glowing red, and it was still aimed at the hostage. Bathory looked on, confused.

"I…I will, just…just stop aiming at Negati, please."

"That will happen after you are relinquished from your weapon. Asana, take it. He won't bite."

Bathory looked back at the foxgirl, who was closer to him but still not anywhere within reach. When her name was called, Asana paused again, turning away from the attention and only looking at her master out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, she looked back at Bathory. He kept his gaze on her, but he reached over and began to unwind the cord around his right arm that was connected to his device. When that was done, he held the cord out, letting the gem dangle below his outstretched hand for her to take.

"Here," he said softly. "Here, take it. Please, I mean it, I'm not gonna do anything."

Still, Asana inched forward slowly, so hesitant to carry out her task.

"Asana, please, I'm not lying," whispered Bathory. "I'm not…I'm really not…"

Finally, Asana got close to Bathory, reaching out and grabbing Aphelion. Bathory let go of the cord, and Asana quickly turned around and dashed away from any expected attacks. But again, Bathory didn't do anything, and now removed of his weapon, he looked back at Izah.

"Okay, I did what you want. I can't hurt you. So please, don't put Negati in any more danger."

Izah nodded and she removed Greater Call from Negati's head. Her arm hung down, and the red glowing lights on the device returned to green, indicating that Izah was back to non-lethal magic.

Bathory sighed in relief.

"Okay, so, what now?" he asked.

"Easy. You're coming with us."

Izah raised Greater Call again, now aiming it at Bathory. The end of the weapon began to glow as it charged up a shot, and Bathory looked at it, suddenly very nervous again.

"Wait, wait, you don't need to-"

Izah fired, and the ball of magic shot out from the weapon and straight into Bathory, tossing him backwards and down to the floor. It was like a bolt of lightning that paralyzed him, leaving him dazed and unable to move while his body felt like it was on fire from the attack. A Triple-A power attack without any magical defenses to block it did quite a number on the man, and now he laid on his back, eyes shut tightly, groaning barely louder than a whisper. Some light orange bands of magic formed around his chest to pin his arms to his sides, and Bathory could do nothing to stop it.

"Asana," said Izah, "please bring him and the device over to me, please."

Asana looked over at the downed mage and nodded in defeat. She begrudgingly went over to Bathory and dragged him across the floor to her master. Izah had spun Negati around but kept her on her knees, and soon Bathory was joining her, kneeling next to his partner but having to lean on her to stay up. Neither could bear to look at each other.

In front of them was the white van, driven in through a large service door that Asana went to open back up. First, the foxgirl had given Aphelion to Izah, and the air mage stepped in front of her two prisoners, looking at the device she now dangled from the cord and intentionally drawing the twos' attention.

"Now listen here," she said to the green gem, "I know you're smart. I know what you're capable of. So what you're gonna do is sit tightly and not do anything to try and help these two. No calling for help, no alerting anybody, nothing. 'Cuz if you do, and if anyone shows up…"

She held up Greater Call one more time, for effect.

"…you might not like what happens to them. Understand?"

Aphelion was silent for a moment, as if it also had to weigh the decision. But eventually, it pulsed and responded to Izah.

[IT IS MY PURPOSE TO ACT FOR THE SAFETY OF MY MASTER – I WILL FOLLOW YOUR DEMANDS]

Izah grinned. She walked over to the van, opening the doors of the back to reveal the spacious interior. There was a bag resting on the floor of the van and Izah picked it up, putting Aphelion in the bag and stuffing it down to the bottom. Then, she tied the bag and tossed it forward to the other side of the interior, where the front seats were separated from the cargo area. The door outside the warehouse had opened, and Asana was walking back to the vehicle. She joined Izah, who stood in front of Negati and Bathory while still holding Greater Call.

Bathory was recovering from the attack, and no longer looked like he was half dead. Still, he wasn't in a position to say much. Negati had recovered more since she was defeated, and she looked up at her captor.

"Izah, please, listen to me," she said. "Attacking us is one thing, but this…this is much worse. This is kidnapping. If you take us, you won't get any sympathy from the Bureau. We're still on your side, but not anymore if you go through will this."

"Huh," muttered Izah. She shrugged. "No big loss. I don't care about them anymore. If this is what it takes to get what I want, then so be it."

"But Izah, think! They will know we are gone. They will know something is wrong. They will come looking for us, and they will find us. And then what? Then what about your plan?"

Izah remained calm. None of what Negati said made even the smallest mark on her. Instead, she shrugged once again.

"Then we should get going before anyone does find us. Asana, help them up."

Izah reached out and pulled Negati up to her feet while Asana grabbed Bathory. The air mage guided Negati over to the van before pushing her forwards, sending her captive up into the back of the van and onto her face. Bathory followed too, and the couple were now in the vehicle and ready to be carried away. Izah stepped into the back as well, hunching over to keep from pushing against the ceiling.

"On your knees again," she ordered the other two. "No talking."

Negati and Bathory struggled to get to their knees without the use of their arms. Eventually, they both managed to do so, and they knelt on the hard floor next to each other, faced towards Izah per her request. Neither mage actually looked at Izah though, choosing instead to look anywhere but at her or each other. Satisfied, Izah walked to the back doors where Asana waited.

"Alright, Asana, you know where to go. Get us back there."

Asana nodded. Izah meant the shack across the river, in the forest where the weeks grew up through cracks in the road and there was total isolation aside from the animals flying above the trees or skittering underfoot. It seemed like the best place to stash two unwilling captives – at least, to Izah, it did.

"Oh, and Asana…" she continued, "don't stop for _anyone_. You got it?"

The familiar felt a shiver run through her body, but she had no choice, so she nodded and went over to the passenger side door. As she climbed in and clambered over to the driver's seat, next to the door that was still barred completely shut, Izah went to close the doors on the back of the van. She thought she succeeded, but as she let them go, the flimsy lock disengaged and they opened slightly again. Annoyed, Izah reached back and closed the doors again, more forcefully this time. She kept pulling it in for another second, wondering if that would maybe do anything, and now when she let go, the doors stayed closed.

Right after that, Asana started the engine, and as usual, it kicked back, feeling like it would almost send the whole frame into the air. Everyone paused, wondering for a split second if the vehicle would even get moving, but the engine settled down and the junky white van began to drive forward.

Without windows in the back, Bathory and Negati couldn't tell where they were going. There was nothing to look at except for each other and Izah, who still kept the pistol gripped firmly in her hand. Maybe it was just a power move, but neither mage wanted to risk it. For the moment, they followed Izah's orders and stayed where they were, kneeling down, and they remained silent – at least, out loud. In their heads, they quickly began a conversation.

 _"What are we going to do, Negati?"_ asked Bathory. " _What are we going to do?_ "

Negati sighed and shook her head. She should've had some sort of idea – some course of action – but her mind was just blanking.

 _"I don't know. I didn't imagine something like this would happen. I have no idea."_

Bathory balled up his fists, still feeling a tingle of numbness from when he was disabled by Izah.

" _But we can't just sit here and let this happen. What does she want from us?"_

 _"She doesn't know what she wants. She doesn't have a plan. She isn't thinking clearly. She's making this all up as she goes._ "

 _"So what are we supposed to do, Negati? Wait?"_

Negati turned her head slightly and glanced up at Izah. The air mage already wasn't focusing fully on the other two – her mind seemed distracted and she was staring off at nothing, probably coming up with the next step. Negati wanted to maybe surprise Izah and keep fighting, but she was still weak from the attack and Izah still held a major advantage. The redhead looked away and responded to Bathory.

 _"This won't last as long as she hopes. The familiar doesn't want to help her. No one else is on her side. Someone will find us soon, or she'll turn her back, or maybe we'll get away next time she's on those pills. This won't last."_

Bathory snuck a glance at Izah too. He focused on her device, and he just couldn't get the vision out of his head of her aiming the device, ready to fire and kill Negati. He looked away, and his breathing became more rapid as he started to panic.

 _"If that's true, then I'm still terrified. I don't know what she's gonna do, to me, to you, to us – "_

Silently, Negati turned her hand and grabbed Bathory's hand in hers. Even pressed up against their bindings, she interlocked fingers and squeezed tightly. This quieted her boyfriend, and Negati spoke telepathically again.

 _"It's going to be okay, Bathory. We'll get through this. I'm right here with you._ "

Bathory nodded, and they both smiled momentarily. They held each other's grasp for another couple seconds, but then Izah cleared her throat loudly, obviously to get the two's attention. They looked up, and she was staring down at their hands. Wordlessly, she waved Greater Call to the side, signifying that she wanted them a little further apart. With a sigh, Negati relented, and she released Bathory's grip as she moved over, just so the two had some space in between them. Izah nodded and looked away again.

* * *

The drive continued for several minutes. In the back of the van, Bathory and Negati felt the vehicle turn left or right or go straight, but they didn't know the area and couldn't predict where they were. The windows on the back doors of the van let in enough light to see, but from their perspective kneeling down, there was nothing to see out the view. Negati fidgeted in her bindings. Kneeling down, staying silent, and playing perfectly to their captor's demand just didn't sit right with her. She had to at least get the other woman talking.

"Izah," Negati said quietly, "why are you doing this?"

Izah looked over at her.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you acting like the Bureau is now your enemy? What are you so afraid that we'll do?"

The older mage shook her head.

"You've got it backwards. It's what they won't do for me. I need to get my pills back, and soon. Are you gonna tell me with a straight face that you'd even consider that?"

Negati paused. She considered her answers, and knew Izah was ready to shut all of them down.

"You're not the only one who's hurting, you know" said Bathory.

Izah and Negati looked over at him. Bathory had kept to himself, hunched over and downcast like expected, but now he had a small fire with his words and he looked at Izah from the corner of his eye.

"You've dragged Vaele into this as well" he continued. "What about him? He waited all night to hear something from you. He's scared. He's scared for you. And what about Asana? Do you see how you're treating her? Do you see how she's responding to you?"

"She's nothing but a familiar," Izah spat. "She will do what I ask her to no matter what."

"And Vaele is 'nothing' but a brother?" Bathory asked. He looked up, staring Izah in the face. "Think about him. Think about everyone who worries about you. Think about everyone who wants you to get better. This isn't a fight between you and us. This isn't a fight at all."

Izah once again balled her fists tightly and began to take heavy breaths. As Bathory raised his emotional energy, so did Izah.

"Then show me anyone else who's helping me get what I need" she responded. "If anyone else was truly on my side, you wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have to be doing this."

"What are you even talking about?" cried Bathory. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to go this far. This is crazy, and stupid, and suicidal-"

With Izah's free hand, she swung it at Bathory, connecting right in his face and spinning him back. He fell against the wall of the van behind him with a loud thud. In response, Negati went to get to her feet.

"You –" she yelled, but was soon stopped by Greater Call aiming right at her again. She and Izah froze, locked in a stalemate. The message was obvious – get back down and shut up, or spend the rest of the ride laid out on the floor with another burst of magic coursing through her system. As Negati hesitantly returned to her knees, she looked over at her partner.

"Bathory, are you okay?" she said.

The male was turning back around. With his arms still pinned to his sides, he could only lick his teeth where Izah had punched him, checking to see that they were all there. Nothing seemed loose, so the only damage was a bruise that would eventually go away. Still, he groaned from the lingering pain. Izah then stepped back to her side of the cargo hold and lowered Greater Call again.

"No matter what you say, I don't want to listen. So from now on, just keep it to yourselves. Got it?"

Both captives had lowered their heads again in defeat. They silently accepted Izah's terms and resumed looking down at the floor.

The vehicle was now at the edge of the city, turning onto a street that led to the large bridge spanning over the river and gorge below. At the wheel, Asana let out a deep sigh and spoke to her master.

 _"Miss Izah, I don't think we will be getting caught."_

Izah looked outside the rear windows and knew where they were. She had taken this route a couple times.

 _"Good_ ", she said. _"But can you maybe speed this up? These two are becoming a real pain back here."_

Asana winced and looked away momentarily.

 _"How long are we going to have to keep them, Miss Izah?"_

The response came quickly, almost cutting Asana off. The tone made Asana wince again, and kept her from paying full attention to the road.

" _I don't know! Why does everyone have questions? I know what I'm doing. Just let me –_ "

There was a pothole on the road where traffic out of the city went over. It was the first sign of the disrepair on the road, and it was avoidable if noticed. But Asana had either forgotten about it, or been too distracted, and the van's tire dipped into the hole and back out, kicking the passengers up and making Izah almost lose her balance. She stumbled forward until she stood against the front wall of the cargo area. Across from her, the lock on the back doors had disengaged again, and the doors swung wide open.

All three mages' heads spun to look out the doors. Behind them was an empty road, without other traffic to alert. However, now Bathory and Negati could see they were heading across the bridge and away from civilization. Their chances of getting help were dimming. Izah quickly recovered and moved over to the doors.

"Good thing no one was behind us…" she said, out loud but mainly to herself. Since the van doors had swung outward, she stood next to the wide opening, reaching out to grab the door and pull it back in.

That's when Negati quickly pushed herself to her feet and ran at Izah.

"Negati!" Bathory yelled.

Izah heard that, as well as the footsteps and loud war cry emitted from Negati, but there was almost no time to react. Her head spun around just before Negati slammed into Izah with her shoulder, tossing them both out of the moving vehicle. As they fell to the ground and rolled along the bridge, Bathory moved as best he could to look back at the scene.

"Negati!" he cried again.

Still stunned by the sudden events, Izah quit sliding and came to a stop, trying to quickly get to her feet. She got to one knee, then heard Negati's voice from in front of her.

"Hey!"

Izah looked up, only to see a foot swinging up into her face and delivering a brutal kick, launching her back and dazing her again. The bindings she was keeping on the other two mages lowered as Izah lost concentration. Negati was already standing, and as she brought her leg back down, her binding broke and she thrust her arms out in a fighting stance. Back in the van, Bathory felt his bindings drop and he looked down to see that he was free once again. Then, he had a thought, and he twisted around to see the bag Izah had thrown against the front of the cargo area.

"Aphelion!" he whispered.

Izah got back to one knee and looked forward at Negati. The redhead stood there defiantly, and with a quick flash of light she was now in her barrier jacket. Her short sleeves showed off the bold, bright red patterns forming from her hands and up her arms.

"You want a real fight?" she asked. "No cheap shots. No ambush. Fight me for real."

By this point, Asana had noticed the chaos going on back at the start of the bridge. She froze, which meant her foot was still pressed down on the gas pedal and she was driving away.

" _Um…M-M-Miss Izah!"_ she cried.

Izah looked past Negati at the white vehicle.

" _Asana, stop. Come back."_

Asana's heart raced, and she stumbled just trying to speak telepathically.

" _B – but you said not to stop for anyone."_

 _"Well, STOP FOR ME, DAMN IT!"_

Asana cried out and she slammed her foot on the brakes, screeching rapidly to a halt and turning the wheel. The van quickly drifted sideways and then around to face back down the bridge, still skidding in the direction it was originally going. Bathory had been working on grabbing his device again, and he got to it right before the maneuver started. He felt himself sliding for the open doors now, and he quickly activated Aphelion, sending out a blade of energy from the side groove that he dug into the floor to keep him in place. When the vehicle finally stopped, Asana was immediately jamming down on the gas, and the tires spun before the vehicle gained traction and began heading back down the bridge. In the back, Bathory also went into his barrier jacket and held on as momentum tried to carry him out again.

With Asana heading back, it was time for Negati to act. Her hands glowed red with an energy spell and she ran forward to attack. She swung, but Izah got up a barrier and it stayed up despite Negati's quick, repeated efforts to break it. It began to show cracks, but by that point Izah had charged her own shot and fired it, forcing the weaker mage to put up her own defenses. There was quite a power gap between them, and Izah's attack had an immediate effect on Negati, sending her stumbling back with her barrier already showing damage. Izah stood up fully and fired again, resulting in the same effect. Negati lost ground, and as her barrier showed more cracks, it began to flicker. Izah continued firing, her finger pressing on the trigger over and over again as rage and madness took over any sense of tactics. Again and again, Greater Call fired, without Izah even bothering to aim well.

Negati's barrier lowered, as she was far enough away that Izah's shots were often going wide. One projectile came right at her, but she rapidly dodged away, trying to channel her energy into another attack. The shot that missed her kept flying forward, arcing downwards as well and heading for the van that was driving back down the bridge. Asana didn't have time to turn away, and Izah's shot hit one of the front tires, instantly blowing it open.

The force kicked the van up before it slammed down onto the axle and began to drift. Asana tried to do something, but things were happening too fact and the van started turning to the side before tipping over and sliding along the road. The painful screeching of the accident stopped Negati in her tracks, and both women could only watch as the crash played out. The van slid toward the side of the bridge, with Asana just hunching down and bracing herself as best she could and Bathory not faring much better. The vehicle was slowing, but when it hit the rail on the side of the bridge, it burst through the section nose-first and kept sliding until about half the van was over the edge, rested precariously above the river below.

Everything seemed frozen for a second aside from the dust clouds and debris kicked up by the crash. But then, ever so slowly, the van began to tip forward.

Negati quickly spun around and ran over.

"No!" she shouted.

She thrust her arms out, and from the markings on them came several red strands of energy that reached out to the vehicle, wrapping around the back of it tightly and then constricting as Negati tried to pull them back in. She moved to stand right behind the vehicle and dug her feet against the ground as much as she could, pulling with all her might. It would have tipped over without her, and she had stopped it so far, but it wasn't coming back towards her. The spell was designed to bind a person, not a large object, and she was at her maximum just trying to keep the crashed vehicle in place. Izah, meanwhile, only stood and watched, the situation in front of her just blanking her mind.

Negati grunted, feeling herself slide forward a little bit and trying harder to pull back.

"Izah?" she yelled. "Bathory? I could use some help here!"

Bathory had finally gotten his wits back, and he crawled up the cargo bay of the van until he appeared at the back of it, looking at Negati. She saw this, and quickly gave him an order.

"Bathory, the familiar – she's still in the seats!"

Bathory looked around, realizing the precariousness of the position. He nodded and quickly jumped into action, reaching up and pulling himself onto the side of the van that was now the top of it. Then, he slid down to the front seats, where Aphelion again dug into the metal and kept him in place. He looked down through the broken window and saw Asana laying against the other door, not moving.

"Hey," he said. "Hey, Asana? Can you hear me?"

The foxgirl's eyes were shut, but she groaned and moved slightly. She was awake, at least. Bathory tried to open the door he was currently on, but it was the drivers' side door and there was no chance he was getting that unstuck in the time he had. He repositioned so he could lean in through the broken window.

"Asana? Can you hear me?"

The girl's eyes shot open, and she rapidly looked around, panicking. Quickly, Bathory reached his free hand through the window as well and down to the familiar. He couldn't quite reach her from his position.

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be alright. Take my hand."

Asana just continued panicking, staying just out of Bathory's grasp.

"Wh – wha – what are you doing?"

"Getting you to safety. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not."

Still holding the vehicle in place, Negati felt herself slide forward again. She couldn't keep this up much longer.

"Bathory!" she shouted. "Get moving!"

Bathory heard her, but he didn't react. He just kept his arm outstretched, hand held out to Asana, looking at her as reassuringly as he could.

"Come on Asana," he said, "let's get out of here."

"But…but we just…did all that to you…"

"I don't care. But we're in a bad spot here, and we need to work together."

Finally, the girl took a deep breath and nodded. She reached out and took Bathory's hand in hers.

"Good," he muttered. "Good, let's keep going."

He started pulling Asana up, and he pushed himself out of the window so he was resting on top of the van again. Asana was now almost standing, and she was starting to get her footing.

"Up and out," muttered Bathory. "Up…and…out…"

Suddenly, an orange ball of magic rocketed into him, breaking his grasp on Asana and shoving him backward with a loud cry. He tumbled to the side of the top of the van and fell off it, swinging Aphelion around and digging a blade of magic from the groove on the side of it into the exterior right before he fell completely away. Now he hung from the van, dangling above the river below, attached by the blade. Negati saw her boyfriend get hit, and she cried his name out as he almost fell away. Then, her attention was brought to Izah, who stood there, having used both hands to aim Greater Call at her target.

"Don't you DARE touch her!" Izah barked. "That's MY familiar!"

Negati lost all restraint. As Izah flew into the air and over to the crashed van, Negati screamed as loud as she could.

"IZAH, ARE YOU INSANE?"

Izah paid no mind to Bathory, flying over only to take Bathory's position on top of the van. She looked inside, and Asana was looking up, very confused. With the tact of someone trying to be sweet and only being sinister, she reached in and stroked Asana's hair.

"Good girl, good girl…I won't let them touch you…"

Despite Asana's protests, Izah pulled her familiar out of the wreck and wrapped her arms tightly around Asana. They both began lifting up into the air, leaving the wreckage along with the man who was now dangling there helplessly.

"Izah!" shouted Negati. "Izah! Get Bathory, please!"

Even Asana looked down and tried to get her master's attention.

"M – Miss Izah, we need to-"

But again, Izah silenced her and stroked her hair.

"It will be okay, Asana. It will all still be okay."

Izah began to float up faster, and despite Negati's desperate protests, Izah quickly took off and flew into the air, curving over toward the forest and disappearing above the treeline. Meanwhile, the van tilted forwards a bit more, and Negati lost some more ground. She was helpless to do any more than she was doing now, and what she was doing now wasn't enough. The van tipped again, she skidded forward again, and she tried pulling back even harder.

"Bathory?" she asked, pleading for him to answer. "Bathory, get out of there!"

Bathory hung near-motionless, swinging slowly from his right arm, which was raised high and was now connecting him to the van via his device. Izah's shot had dazed him once again, and just as he could only softly hear Negati, he could only softly respond as well.

"I'm okay, Negati…" he whispered. "I'm…I'm okay…"

Just then, the van tipped some more, and it was soon past the point where Negati could hold it back. It rapidly slid over the edge, and Negati watched with wide eyes as she quit holding the van back and now it started taking her with it. As it fell, it dragged her forward, until she lost her footing and was pulled along by her bindings, falling to the bridge and sliding towards the edge on her stomach. Before she could be carried over as well, she released her bindings, and the momentum brought her right up to the edge. She grabbed an unbroken section of the guardrail by the edge and she looked over it. She watched, paralyzed, as everything seemed to go in slow motion. The vehicle, along with Bathory, tumbled through the air. Aphelion had disengaged at some point so Bathory was now freefalling towards the river. His device attempted to project a spell to soften his landing, but just as he hit the water, the vehicle came down right on top of him and sent everything down below the surface with a heavy crash.

The water had parted to let everything through, but soon it covered up the objects and everything was now gone from vision, replaced only by ripples on the water's surface. If someone had only looked now, they may not have thought anything was wrong. But Negati saw the entire thing, and she looked down, paralyzed, until suddenly a thought pushed through to the very forefront of her mind.

Run! Save him!

Negati sprang up, immediately running to the end of the bridge closest to her, which was on the side leading to the city. Though all this adrenaline was going through her head, specific thoughts clearly stood out against the noise and decided her actions. This is where she had taken Bathory several nights ago. There was a path leading down the side of the gorge, down to the water. She had to get down that and get Bathory out.

Her legs moved in rhythm, carrying her forward as quickly as she could run. Every motion and movement felt perfectly done to waste as little time as possible. She turned to leave the paved area and enter the rough, jagged path that twisted back and forth down the side of the ravine. Even when she raced down the beginning of the path and stumbled, she acted quick to keep herself upright and moving. She never stopped and barely slowed, racing down the path, cutting back and forth as the path itself did and taking giant steps to descend quicker. Then, there was another thought in her head.

Too slow – It's too slow!

She was only halfway down, and already it felt like Bathory had spent an eternity under the surface. He hadn't risen yet, and it was very possible that he never would unless Negati could get to him. Again, she scanned the area, noticing her surroundings and anything she could do to descend faster. And then, after another cutback going the other way down the trail, she saw something ahead of her. Where the path next twisted around on itself, there was a section that jutted out from the wall and over the river. Several mental images and branching decisions raced through Negati's head, and as she approached the switchback, she decided to go for it. She didn't follow the path, and instead jumped onto the extension. She kept her momentum, running right up to the edge before leaping forward and diving off of it.

She soared through the air, quickly falling down to the river. In that span of time where all she heard was the rushing of air past her, she turned to face downwards and held her arms toward the water, putting her hands together. She took a deep breath, and as she hit the water and closed her eyes, she felt herself push through and sink several meters down from the surface. When she slowed to a halt, she opened her eyes, looking around her. It was dark down here, almost impossible to see anything. She'd hoped she would see Bathory quickly, but as she pushed the water around, turning to face every direction, there was nothing.

"Bathory!" she cried, almost muted by the water but still hoping for something. "Bathory!"

After her second call, there was a faint glow she saw just out of the corner of her eyes, and she heard a muffled pinging sound. When she turned to face it, though, the glow had subsided and there was nothing there. She paused, wondering if she had imagined it, but then a couple seconds later, it happened again. There was that noise, and a green glow formed in the water in front of Negati.

It was from Aphelion. The gem lit brightly to draw Negati's attention, and in the glow, she could see Bathory, unconscious, slowly sinking deeper.

Her eyes went wide again and she pushed herself in the water wildly, trying to reorient herself and then trying to get to him as fast as she could. She paid no mind to her own needs for air and she thrusted through the water, getting over to Bathory and then trying to right both of them to swim back up to the surface. With one arm tightly holding her partner, she could only push with one arm and kick with her feet. It went slower than she wanted to, and on the journey up, she was having trouble ignoring her own burning lungs. She gritted her teeth, and with such force that she felt the blood pump painfully through her head, she pushed up through the surface.

Violently, she gasped for air before her head went back under. When she was above water again, she looked around, noticing the small beach where she and Bathory had ended up before. It was the best spot to get to, and as she paddled along, trying to keep both her and Bathory's heads above the waterline, she called out to him again.

"Bathory? Bathory?"

He didn't respond. He didn't even appear to be breathing. He rested motionless in Negati's grip as she struggled to get them both to the side. The river wasn't very fast, though, and she eventually got herself and Bathory up onto land. At the rate her mind was going, it again felt like it had taken an eternity.

She dragged Bathory away from the water and set him down on his back. His eyes were shut, and he was lifeless. Negati wasn't a medic by any means, but Bureau officers were still taught basic lifesaving tips like rescue breathing. She dropped to her knees beside Bathory, trying desperately to keep the memory of learning the procedure in class looping over and over in her mind. This was just another test dummy, and definitely not her boyfriend who needed her to get this right. There was definitely not the life of someone she cared deeply about on the line here. It was just like the test dummy, and she just needed to do the steps like she did back then.

Even still, her heart raced, but her actions were deliberate. She leaned over and tilted Bathory's head back, pinching his nose with one hand and pulling his lower jaw open with the other. She leaned in closer, pressing her lips to his tightly, and blew a steady stream of air.

Under her, Bathory suddenly convulsed. He shuddered once, then again, then his eyes shot open and he felt nothing but the water in his lungs. He began coughing, processing nothing but the fact that he was choking. Negati's kiss – or even Negati herself – didn't register to him. He pushed her away and rolled over, coughing violently and expelling the water out onto the sand below. He pounded the grounded with his fist, practically heaving the water out and trying to get air going through his lungs. His coughing began to morph into heavy breaths, but he was still rebooting and hadn't processed his situation. Negati, meanwhile, watched as Bathory returned to life. The shock of him moving again temporarily froze her in place, but as the realization hit her that he was going to be fine, all the adrenaline keeping her going washed out of her and she just collapsed onto the sand.

Next to her, Bathory slowly recovered. He got to his hands and knees, still facing down and breathing heavily. He didn't need to cough much anymore, and whatever water was left, he just spat out. As he finally looked around him, he noticed he was resting on a sandy surface. He saw the rock wall in front of him, and then as he looked over, he saw a familiar person laying on the sand.

"Negati?" he asked. On his hands and knees, he pushed his way over to her. "Negati, are you okay?"

As Bathory addressed her, all the emotion came back. It was like a wave that had receded and then returned, and now all the worry and fear that was buried behind the need to be calm came forward to reveal itself. She shot her arms into the air and cried out.

" ** _AM_** **_I OKAY?"_**

She got to her knees, turning to face Bathory and pushing him up onto his. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders and stared him in the eyes, speaking with such intensity that Bathory couldn't look away.

"Bathory, do you know what happened? Do you remember, with Izah – the van – you falling? You weren't…you weren't doing anything…not…not even…you weren't even…"

Negati couldn't finish the sentence. She pulled her partner in, wrapping her arms tightly around him. She leaned against his neck, shutting her eyes and feeling tears start to well in them. She began sobbing as the emotion continued coursing through her. With deep breaths, barely held back through gritted teeth, she let it out as silently as she could. Bathory, meanwhile, just leaned against her, plain and emotionless. He finally looked up, and he could see up to where the railing was broken on the bridge and where he had tumbled down to the water below. The situation was obvious, and he knew exactly what had happened, but for some reason none of his own life-or-death situation was hitting him with any power. Maybe he was still repressing it, but there was no relief at being alive still or even anger at how this had all happened in the first place. There was only the understanding of every event that happened and how everything had led here.

Maybe there was one emotion – a tiny pulse of sorrow. He hated seeing Negati cry.

"I'm sorry," he said. It was all he could say. "I'm sorry, Negati."

Negati shook her head. With scattered breaths, she quieted Bathory.

"No, no, no, don't say that."

Again, Bathory remained in place. He looked down, talking to Negati but not interacting with her otherwise.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Anything. Just…anything. And hold me, too."

Methodically, Bathory brought his arms up and wrapped them around Negati. As soon as he did so, he felt her shudder again, the reaffirming touch pushing another burst of emotion through her. As she sobbed too heavily to speak, Bathory patted her back and responded.

"I love you, Negati."

She nodded. Between breaths, she whispered out a single command.

"Tighter."

Bathory pulled her in even tighter. She did the same, keeping him close.

"We're alright now," he said. "It's going to be okay."

Negati's eyes were still shut tight, and her head was buried against Bathory's back.

"I'm never letting you go…" she murmured. "I'm never letting you go…"

As Bathory rubbed Negati's back, he looked up at the bridge again. In the distance, he could hear sirens closing in on the road above. At some point, Aphelion must have made a distress call. But even if other officers arrived now, Bathory knew it would be some time until Negati would let them get up. He didn't mind – he'd wait as long as that would take.


	14. The Tides for the Moon

**A/N:** There are again callbacks to the previous 2 stories in this series but I hopefully explained enough during the callbacks for them to make sense.

* * *

 **Chapter 14 - The Tides for the Moon**

* * *

Several hours later, Bathory and Negati found themselves sitting in a room on the medical wing of the Nemelendelle Bureau Headquarters. Both had changed into dry clothes – plain shirts and shorts, provided mainly for trainees or gym use – and had provided their statements, waited around, and sat through several medical checks. They both felt a new level of being drained, more so than after their confrontation with Izah and the subsequent events on the bridge. Now, there was one final person sitting them down and holding them up – Captain Eratarka. The older woman stood by the doorway in the bright, sparse room, arms crossed and looking directly at the other two.

"Are you certain you're okay?" she asked. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to make sure."

Bathory and Negati were both on the edge of the hospital bed, sitting next to each other and holding hands.

"We're fine," said Negati. "None of this is going to stick. We'll be okay tomorrow."

Eratarka uncrossed her arms, and her hand movements reflected the energy in her voice.

"But you…Both of you were attacked by Izah, and nearly kidnapped, and – and especially you, Bathory – you…from what I heard, you were out – completely - for a minute or two there. I just want to make sure there's nothing lasting. You can stay here and I can get Negati a temporary room in the barracks for the night. We can accommodate her."

Bathory and Negati shared a quick glance before Bathory responded.

"If you're getting her a room anyways, I'll join her. I don't need to stay here. I don't really want to. After everything that's happened, I just want a nice, quiet room where I can go to sleep without all these beeping monitors or tubes jammed into my veins or anything like that."

Eratarka chuckled and shook her head.

"You make it sound like we're putting you in intensive care."

Bathory smiled as well.

"To me, it kinda feels like it."

"But you're sure you're alright? Even your leg – did that get damaged at all?"

Bathory looked down at his right leg. Below the unassuming skin was some of Midchilda's finest cybernetics. If that was broken at all, he might be out of action until it could get repaired. He flexed his right calf, checking that everything was functional.

"No, it doesn't feel like it," he replied. "Aphelion would've told me if something broke."

"Alright, alright, – it's your call. Master Sergeant, Lieutenant, if you think you can walk it off, then I'll let you go. But I'm going to at least give you both the day off tomorrow. Rest and recuperate, both of you."

Negati seemed worried, and she looked away for a moment.

"But if Izah does something like that again…" she said, "if she's so desperate she'll cause trouble to someone else, then we need to be there…"

Eratarka's hands both went up to cover her face. She sighed and then spoke out again, sounding exacerbated.

"Okay, I'll just give you the morning off! Take a walk. Look at the scenery. Breathe some air! Just give yourselves _some_ time to recover."

After another quick glance, the two younger mages nodded.

"That's fine," said Negati. "Thank you, Captain."

Eratarka lowered her hands and recomposed herself. With a friendly smile, she seemed to be wrapping up her discussion.

"Okay, then. I presume you both know where to go for the spare rooms. I'll grant you access for the night, and tomorrow we'll see about-"

There was a knock on the door, and the three mages looked over to see Vaele standing there. His eyes were downcast and his body slouched. He was waiting for someone else to initialize conversation.

"Ah, Vaele," said Bathory, "hello again."

Vaele slowly walked into the room. When he finally spoke, his words were mumbled and were directed mainly at the floor.

"Um…I heard about what happened…you saw Izah again…"

"That's one way of putting it," said Negati. "Yes, we saw your sister again. And let's just say that things could have gone much, much worse. We're all extremely lucky that Bathory and I are only in the state we're in."

Negati sounded hesitant, unsure of what to say or how reserved to be. Now wasn't a good time to lay all the facts out plainly or play them up to be as bad as they were. Still, Vaele cringed and it took a couple seconds for him to respond.

"So…" the boy said, "so what about now? Are…are you mad now? Are you mad at Izah?"

The room was silent. Bathory and Negati both looked away. Both needed some time to figure out an answer. Especially Bathory – the moments starting at the market still raced through his head, and even the parts he was unconscious for were filled in by Negati eventually. But he couldn't do more or apply any more meaning to them than just accepting the events as they happened. He had no idea what he would say to Vaele in response.

Eventually, Negati answered.

"Yes. Yes, I am. I'm mad. I'm not showing it now, but part of me is definitely angry. Nobody should have to be put through what happened to us, and nobody should have to see, do, or experience what I had to experience."

Negati gripped Bathory's hand tighter and looked right at him. He turned to her and smiled, but she didn't see that. In her own head she played back the events she was speaking of, starting with watching Bathory fall away into the waters below the bridge. Then, there was the panic as she ran to save him, the uncertain worry as she landed in the water and looked around everywhere for him, and finally the dreading thought that he could be gone forever. Even with his body in her arms, there was the possibility he wouldn't have woken up. That 'what-if' was blocked in the moment by adrenaline, but the full weight of it had presented itself to her afterwards and it still lingered in her mind with her grip on Bathory's hand. After that all quickly cycled through her again, she looked back at Vaele and continued.

"But…" she said, and her tone was warmer now. "We can't dwell on what already happened. We have to focus on what we can still do. I'm here. Bathory's here. And Izah's still alive as well. She's out there, and we can still do something. There is hope. There is still hope. We cannot lose track of that."

Vaele nodded lightly. He looked up, and he was almost at the point of making eye contact again.

"Yeah…I just want to see her again…"

"And you will," said Bathory. "Don't worry, you will. The TSAB will make sure of that. Now, you should get some rest. You've had a long day; we started pretty early, after all. Oh, how'd the rest of the day go? Did you get integrated and all that?"

Vaele nodded again.

"Y – yeah, I did. I got an Instructor, and a team, and they tested me out."

Vaele looked back at the Captain. She smiled.

"Good to hear," said Bathory. "You'll do great. I know it. Izah and Asana will be proud of you."

Under Vaele's hesitant posture, he smiled warmly. His hand fidgeted in his pocket and he quickly pulled out the standby form of the device he was given. He played with it for a moment.

"Thanks. Thanks everyone for helping us out."

He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Eratarka and the other two. The Captain looked back at the couple, sighed, and shook her head.

"Well, if you are sure you don't need any evaluations, then you're both free to go. Might be good to make it quick before anyone else voices their opinions."

With another shared look, Bathory and Negati stood up and separated their grasp only to leave the room single file.

"Thank you, Captain" said Bathory.

"No problem. Just, like I said, take it easy!"

Once they were both out of the room, they rejoined hands and continued down the hall of the medical wing. After a few seconds, Bathory smiled.

"Nice speech you gave there."

Negati chuckled.

"We had to say something to him, you know? Reassure him. But I mean it. That's how I see it – no one died, no one was scarred forever. I'm angry now, but if we catch her, I'll forgive her."

Bathory smiled. The logic was very familiar to him. It was how she explained herself to him when they crossed paths again, months after their initial encounters on Siba. Back then, it was an olive branch he definitely wasn't expecting to be offered.

He looked over at her.

"Kinda like me, right?"

"Right. On Siba, you were desperate. That wasn't the real you. Izah's desperate too. This isn't the real her either. And if all that directly comes of this is me admittedly being an emotional blabbermouth on the beach back there, then that's fine with me."

They both smiled. It was nothing more than a lighthearted joke at a serious situation. Quickly, though, Negati's smile faded away and she had a determined look in her eyes.

"Bathory…Everything I said, though…I meant it. What I felt there, by the river, was stronger than anything I can remember."

She gripped his hand tighter again and Bathory looked over, curious.

"Oh?" he asked.

"It wasn't just relief that someone I cared for was alive. It was relief that _you_ were alive. You were alive…and you weren't going to leave me."

Bathory slowly looked away from her to face down the hall again. Despite trying the whole time to come up with something to say, he finally uttered out a single boring, basic syllable.

"Yeah."

On the outside, it seemed like nothing was wrong, but on the inside, his mind started racing again. The thoughts he'd kept private from Negati and mostly to himself came pouring back in. They were the thoughts about the two of them – together – the future. The place he wanted so badly to get to but was so hesitant on even taking a step there. The question he wanted to ask – not even the big question, just a simple one to make sure Negati thought the same. That first little step.

 _This would be perfect…_ he thought. _She's setting it up and she doesn't even know it. So say something more already!_

Negati continued, unaware of Bathory's internal monologue.

"I don't know what I would've done if you were gone there. I'd have probably gone crazy. I mean, I was halfway there just from the thought of it! And even now, I don't even want to let go. What if this is all some dream or something? What if this is just my mind trying to keep you here? At the rate I was going back then, it just might be possible."

Next to her, more thoughts were going through her partner's head, again completely silent to Negati.

 _So tell her it's not! Tell her what you want to do. You planned it all out, right? You knew what you were gonna say, right? So what was it? It doesn't matter – just go! Just say something._

Instead, a short, seeming-unemotional grunt was all Bathory could respond with.

"Huh."

 _Is that it? Is that all? You moron. You've been putting it off so long and you still can't do it? If not now, then when?_

Again, Negati paid no heed to the empty reply. As she spoke, the words continued to almost go in one of Bathory's ears and go right out the other. He was too distracted, and he still only responded with simple, thoughtless affirmations.

"I told you, I've never felt that way before. It's something I can't just brush off."

"Right."

"It was more than just companionship. It was deeper than that – it was so much stronger."

"Hmm."

"And it got me thinking about something. It makes me wonder if pretty soon we should talk about getting married."

"Yeah, I-"

Bathory froze in place. His mind basically shut down and he stood completely still as Negati kept walking. Her hand held onto his for as long as it could before it slipped out of her grasp and she realized Bathory wasn't following. She paused and spun around, looking at Bathory as he remained wide-eyed, unmoving.

"Bathory?" she asked.

He didn't respond. What happened to him was like a computer crash, and it took some time to recover from the absolute zero his brain function had just dropped to. As he remained there, completely still, Negati began to wonder if maybe she said something wrong. A bit of that fear began to flow through her, and she rapidly spoke while holding her hands out.

"I – I – I mean, I was just talking, just saying something, I mean, if you're not there yet – you're somewhere else – then, then, then you can just…I didn't mean…"

Bathory's expression finally returned, and he smiled lightly. He whispered something to himself, so faint that Negati could barely hear him.

"You beat me to it…"

This made Negati pause. She looked at Bathory, confused.

"I…what?" she asked.

Bathory's smile grew wider and he held his arms out, walking toward Negati and responding energetically.

"You beat me to it!"

He hugged her tight and lifted her up, causing another high-pitched startled shriek from Negati. In the middle of the hallway, Bathory spun around, laughing and continuing his own thoughts.

"All this worry and wondering and waiting and putting it off, all that I put myself through, and you don't have a problem at all! I love you, Negati. I love you so much!"

He finally put her down but he kept holding her tightly as Negati looked right in his eyes and put her hands on the sides of his head.

"What are you talking about, Bathory?"

This close together, Bathory lowered his voice to just above a whisper. That didn't lower any of the obvious relief in his words, though.

"I was thinking about this too. I was feeling the same way."

Negati also lowered her voice to a near-whisper.

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know, I couldn't get it out. It was stuck in my head, and I just couldn't make it work."

"And how long have you been thinking this."

"A while, maybe a couple weeks-"

Negati stopped Bathory by leaning in and stealing him for a long, heavy kiss. When she finally pulled away, over them both lightly getting their breath back, she smirked and grabbed the back of his head.

"That's why you leave the talking to me."

She pulled him in again and they both closed their eyes. Bathory felt Negati pushing him to the side, and he moved with her to the side of the hallway, slamming up against the wall with his back. Negati kept pushing, though, and Bathory knew what she was going for as he recognized he was up against a closed door and not a solid section of the wall. Still blind and distracted by the kiss, he fumbled with his hand, looking for the doorknob. Finally he found it, and with a sharp twist, the door opened behind him and he felt himself begin falling back. Without thought, he stumbled a couple steps but eventually fell to the floor. Negati quickly joined him again, landing on top of him and pushing Bathory down. They had separated momentarily though, and Bathory could get his bearings.

The room looked like a small storage area and janitor's closet. While the entrance and middle of the small room were clear, various boxes and supplies were one both sides of the small room. The room was filled with the light from the hallway, though there was a single light controlled by a switch by the door that hadn't been hit. Negati stretched her leg back and kicked the door with her foot, slowly closing the door and blotting out the light again. It didn't close all the way but it was mostly there; only a stream of light shined through the crack between the door and the hinge.

The two paused, Negati staring down and Bathory looking up at her. Their eyes were locked again but their focus was hazier. There was a heat racing in their bodies, at this point still just a distraction but quick overtaking both of them. Their actions were looser, sloppier, and when they spoke, their words were more slurred with less effort put on clarity.

"So…" muttered Negati, "anything else you got stuck in your head? Anything else you couldn't tell me?"

Bathory shook his head lightly. He also spoke with his words slurred together.

"No…I'm just…I'm sorry…"

"Why? Why would you be sorry?"

"I was scared…of what you were gonna say…"

"Oh, do I scare you?"

Bathory shook his head again.

"No…no, no, I…"

Negati put a finger to his lips and silenced him again. At the same time, she smiled brightly.

"I'm just messing with you. You know that."

With that, she leaned in and kissed him again, lowering to rest on top of Bathory. Bathory brought his hands up and they began to wander, rubbing against Negati's side and back and trailing themselves up and down her form. Both started breathing heavier and letting out short moans, though they tried to keep somewhat quiet. One of Bathory's hands reached the end of her shirt and he got his hand under it, bringing it back up against her body and taking the garment with it. He stopped at her bra and his mind was now caught between the dance going on with their lips and tongues, the feeling of her own hands on his skin, and the attempt to begin removing her clothes. He could do it, though, and as he got his hand around the clasp, there was just a simple move his hand needed to make…

The door suddenly swung open with a loud bang, startling both mages completely. They pulled away, and Bathory leaned up as much he could while Negati spun around. Both had horrified expressions on their faces, and both saw that the person who had interrupted them was Captain Eratarka. She stood in the doorway, holding the doorknob with one hand and looking away from the scene, covering her eyes with the other.

"You can stay here in the medical ward or get a room in the barracks, but I need you to pick one or the other!" she cried.

The two younger mages calmed down from the shock, and then embarrassment replaced it. They both laughed awkwardly and looked back at each other, blushing heavily. Negati grabbed her shirt and pulled it back down while standing up from the ground.

"Yeah…" she stumbled out. "We…uh…we should get going then…"

* * *

Back at the house, Arin sat alone. It was dark out by now, and it was getting late. He should have been preparing to go to bed. Instead, his mind was active, playing off itself constantly, projecting the previous confrontation he had with Bathory and all the thoughts he kept hidden from plain sight. Outside, a car drove up the street, but it didn't stop. It was someone else, out living their own life and dealing with their own situations, and the car faded into the distance just as the sound of the engine has originally risen from it.

Arin was on the couch, staring down at his device which rested on the table. He'd been fixated on it for quite some time now. He sighed deeply, and then spoke in his usual monotone.

"Retrigal, it appears that it has happened again."

The light grey gem pulsed in response.

[WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT]

"I attempted to speak my concerns out loud and in return, I have found myself without allies."

Outside, another car drove up the street. Hoping for Bathory or Negati to return, Arin waited where he way and stayed silent. However, this vehicle also continued along, returning Arin to his thoughts. He looked over at his wrist and held the bracelet that had been locked on him - the constant reminder of his failure to appease the Captain. Then, he looked back at Retrigal.

"I must consider my companions' portrayal of my situation through absolute truth, rather than my own projections. It has been my own actions which have brought me to my current place. My own disobedience…and my own anger…"

Arin then hunched over, bringing his hands up to grip the sides of his head. His familiar emotion began to resurge.

"But I have spent so long doing what they want me to do…hiding it…trying to be normal…but it will never be any different…it will never be any different!"

He slammed his fists down onto the table. As he spoke, he balled his fists tighter and tighter.

"They don't know what to do with me, and I don't either. I am the thorn in everyone's side. This is not the place for me. Bathory is changing – Negati is changing – everyone else can learn and grow and live without being locked inside a shell of a person. I cannot learn, I cannot grow, and I will never be anything more than this single-faced façade."

Finally, he halted, and it was silent in the dark house once again. A few seconds went by before Arin stood up and began to pace around randomly.

"Certainly I am misguided in this moment as well. Certainly I am not truly alone."

He looked back at Retrigal suddenly.

"Retrigal," he snapped, "contact Negati."

The devise began to pulse again and it projected a screen, initiating a video call.

[CONTACTING DEVICE OF – NEGATI WINTER]

The insignia of the TSAB was the generic background, and as Retrigal waited for a response, the insignia slowly rotated around. Arin looked away, trying to compose himself, hoping he could speak to someone he knew. Surely it couldn't be as bad as he imagined it was, couldn't it?

Seconds went on. Finally, the screen disappeared.

[THE USER IS UNAVAILABLE AT THIS TIME – WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE?]

Arin rapidly shot back.

"No. Call Bathory."

Retrigal pulsed and projected the screen again.

[CONTACTING DEVICE OF – BATHORY KARDENIS]

The insignia appeared and slowly rotated around again. After a couple full rotations, the screen faded out.

[IT APPEARS HE IS UNAVAILABLE AS WELL – WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL HIM]

Arin was frozen again. He lowered his voice, but it still kept a slight bitterness to it.

"Nothing. I do not wish to leave a message."

[UNDERSTOOD]

The living room was silent again for a few seconds before Arin spoke again.

"So I am truly alone."

He paused, then a new burst of energy ran through him. He strode over to the living room table and grabbed Retrigal before storming over to the bathroom, shutting the door and turning on the lights in one fluid motion. He went to the sink and put Retrigal down, running the taps and splashing some water on his face. Then, he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. A man with wild eyes was staring back.

"So you've finally done it," he said to himself. "You've driven them away. What did it finally take? Showing your violence? Revealing your anger? They can't handle you, and everyone knew it was eventually going to happen. Where's your opportunity? Where's your chance? When will you get to feel happy? When will you get to adapt? When will you finally change!?"

Arin grabbed Retrigal, and the need to smash something coursed through him. Retrigal activated, forming the long, thin staff with the glaives of grey energy spinning in the cramped bathroom. Arin held onto the staff with both hands and wound back, still staring at himself.

"You won't. You won't do anything but disappoint! And fuck them if they think you'll do anything differently!"

With a loud cry, Arin swung the staff around into the glass mirror. The grey energy blades shattered the mirror completely, and the glass fell down onto the sink countertop, some rolling or bouncing onto the floor. After the swing, Arin panted for breath and slowly looked up at the damage he was done. He couldn't feel shock at having done that, or any mild relief in his action's wake. Those emotions weren't available to him anymore. Aside from the anger that fueled him to do it, there was only the cold logic alongside it that he'd done something he couldn't take back. And if he'd already started it, why stop now?

He twisted around, shambling back out of the bathroom, across the main area to his own bedroom. He was hunched over in a twisted form, almost dragging his device behind him, breathing heavily and feeling the blood rush through his veins. He hadn't felt this driven in a long time.

As soon as he got into his room, he shut the door and looked around it. The generic furniture was basically all his possessions from his time on Nemelendelle. Without hobbies or interests, without anything more than the basic drive to live healthily, nothing personal lined the walls or stood on the desk that came as part of the room. The bed rested against one wall, and then there was a desk with a chair by the opposite wall. Then, a plain wooden dresser and plain, empty shelves were all the objects inside here.

He gripped his device again, holding Retrigal more like a bat than a staff. He kept his hands just out of the way of one set of blades, preparing to swing so the other set would make contact. He winded up again, trying to think of anything to say, but finally just going for the first word out of his mouth.

"Fuck."

He'd aimed the glaive of blades at the bed, and the energy blades sliced through the mattress and the frame below it, cracking the wood and making everything fall to the ground. With another quick gasp of breath, he wound up another swing and brought it down on the desk now.

"Fuck!"

The wood was split in two, sending both broken parts of the desk to the ground as well. After that, Arin set his sights on the dresser, and spun to swing Retrigal horizontally this time.

"Fuck!"

The wood split open as well, and the force from the swing tossed the top part to the side before it too crashed to the floor. In his engulfing rage, Arin began to swing blindly over and over at the rubble, turning everything he could into smaller and smaller pieces.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fucking…fuck! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, **FUCK**!"

Finally, he relented, standing there as if he were possessed. His eyes were glossed over his mouth was open, gasping for air. His knees buckled and he fell to them, releasing his device and staring straight ahead at the wall. His body was burning, coursing through with the feeling of channeling all that magic. He could feel it in his veins, and now his mouth was parched as well.

In a daze, he slowly brought his arms away from his body, as if silently pleading or revealing his situation. It was like a spirit had possessed him and now vacated his body, leaving him empty inside. Seconds went by without an answer, and finally Arin collapsed to the ground, laying on his side. Laying among the debris of the room, Arin brought his knees up and laid in the fetal position. He was silent, but there was still just so much coursing through him that tears began to form and fall from his eyes as he shuttered with residual anger. There were no sounds except for an occasional strained breath every few seconds.

Eventually, Arin reached around for his device. When he found it, he picked it up and brought it inwards to his chest.

"Retrigal…" he said, now plain and unchanging, his usual tone of voice. "Can you place one more call?"

In his grip, the gem glowed again.

[CERTAINLY – WHO AM I ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT]

Arin took a deep breath. The person he had in mind was someone he hadn't spoken to for years, and perhaps if Negati or Bathory were around, he could be talked out of it. Still, this seemed like the one outlet he had remaining.

"Retrigal, please contact General Parkensine."

The device pulsed quickly.

[ATTEMPTING]

As another screen formed, Arin thought about who he was calling. Parkensine – the commanding General for the TSAB back home on Siba – Planet 84, his, Bathory's, and Negati's homeworld. Parkensine - the man who chose to believe in a lie and try to hunt Bathory down for retribution. The man who directly cause Arin to be the way he was, brainwashed and broken. But still, he was a Siban, and if nothing could help Arin in the present, he needed to speak to someone from his past.

The screen froze for a split second, and suddenly an image appeared on it, expanding to fill the screen. It was of an older man with greying hair sitting at a desk, dressed in standard uniform. The man spoke, somewhat surprised but containing it well.

"Mister Vesceron, it has been a long time since I have last heard from you."

As Arin could see Parkensine, Parkensine could surely see Arin. The man could surely see that Arin was laying on the floor, and so there were no attempts to hide that there was nothing wrong.

"General," said Arin, "I do not belong here."

"Here?" asked the older man. "Where is 'here', Mister Vesceron? You may have to fill me in – it has been years since your disappearance."

Arin had mostly recovered. He wasn't crying, and his plain face was locked back on him. Still, he didn't have the energy to get up from his current position.

"When Bathory and Negati left, they took me with them, first to Midchilda and then to Planet 55 – Nemelendelle, for their rehabilitation. They chose to say, and I was asked to stay with them."

At the mention of Bathory, Parkensine looked away from the screen and there was an obvious but slight change in his body language. There wasn't an immediate anger or murderous hatred like he had when Bathory was running away, avoiding his fate, but now it was just an acceptance of the events that had happened years ago and the last, barely-lit ember of the emotions Parkensine had once harbored. When Arin finished speaking, the older man looked back at the screen.

"And that is where you are now?"

"Correct. I have remained with them since that decision was made. However, I have found myself in a dire situation on this planet, at odds with the Bureau and their expectations."

The General shifted in his seat.

"That planet follows the example set by Midchilda, does it not?" he asked. "We follow our own guidelines on Siba – we always have and always will. I am not surprised they choose to try and force their own perspective."

"But General, it is not just the fact of where I am from – it is who I am. The other two have integrated well, but I cannot. I am unable to change, and I am unable to remain here any further. I do not belong here, and I do not belong anywhere else that expects me to change."

"What are you saying, Mister Vesceron?" asked Parkensine. "What are you getting at?"

Arin paused again. He took another deep breath, and then answered the question.

"I wish to return to Siba, General."

Slowly, Parkensine let out a breath as well. The request did not freeze him in place, but it was not something he expected to hear. He spoke, quietly, in response.

"It would not be too hard to arrange transportation for you. It is not an impossible request at all. Yet…what would happen if I did so? Would the others attempt to set foot on Siba as well?"

"I do not believe so. They would not come after me."

Parkensine let out a slow sigh. He seemed devoid of much energy in general during this talk.

"I should let you know something, Mister Vesceron. As I mentioned, years have passed, and all leaders know they cannot live forever. I may be stepping down before too long, Mister Vesceron. I can influence your journey for as long as I can, but soon another General may be controlling our Bureau."

"I do not require anything special or specific" said Arin. "I wish only to find a spot of my own in the system that I understand."

Parkensine nodded.

"Very well. I shall work on providing you transportation soon. I will send you the information once it is finalized. I am glad to hear from you again, Mister Vesceron. You are dismissed."

Parkensine ended the call, and the screen disappeared in front of Arin. After that, he still didn't move. All activity was in his head, going over his current situation and imagining what his next course of action should be. He remained there, curled up, motionless as the night went on.

* * *

Bathory and Negati laid in bed, bundled tightly against each other under the covers. The clothes they'd been provided with were scattered in disarray on the floor nearby. They had made it to the spare rooms in the barracks of the Bureau site, and now, after everything that happened out in the city and everything that happened once they were safely back with the Bureau, they were barely awake and one last conversation was all that kept them from falling asleep. When that faded out, they would do so as well.

"So Negati?" Bathory asked, eyes shut and slurring the words together.

"Hmm?" replied the redhead. Her eyes were also shut, and she shifted slightly to find a comfier position next to Bathory.

"What are you expecting now?"

"From what?"

"The next step – when I propose. What are you thinking?"

She smiled and shifted once again.

"Let's get all this sorted out first…with the Lumieres…and then after all that, we'll just find a nice, quiet moment by ourselves and you'll know what to do."

Bathory smiled too.

"And what about rings, then?"

"Let's figure that out some other time. But don't blow the bank on that part of it. I'd rather take a great honeymoon than sit around with the perfect jewelry."

Bathory smiled wider.

"I love you, Negati. You always know what to do."

Negati giggled.

"And you always listen when I have something to say. Good night."

"Good night."

The conversation ended, and a few more thoughts drifted quickly through Bathory's head. It had been quite a journey for the both of them, from a desperate survivor and doubted officer on Siba to the people they were on Nemelendelle. They'd adapted based on their behaviors from the past, Bathory learning to listen to others and allow those around him the opportunity to decide while Negati learned to take charge of her own life and step in when needed. Like puzzle pieces, they fit together and supported each other in the complete upheaval from all they'd known and the journey to a new, unsure part of their lives. And now here they were, about to take a step further than either had done in the past. But for the moment, Bathory wasn't worried anymore. Now he knew where Negati stood, and if she was ready for it, he was ready too. He would follow her into that unknown territory and move at her will, whatever that may be.

Negati had fallen asleep. Bathory could tell by her light snoring and rhythmic push and pull of her chest against his. With that, his mind wound down, and he drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

 _And I hold you close with the ebb and flow_  
 _Though the tides may turn, we won't_  
 _And I hold you tight like an anchor line_  
 _Through the cruelest seas at night  
_  
 _Keep me like an old tune, something borrowed and blue_  
 _Bury me sound asleep beneath the boards in your room_  
 _I love you still and true_  
 _So watch me move at your will just like the tides for the moon_

Defeater _\- Borrowed & Blue  
_


	15. Resection

**Chapter 15 - Resection**

* * *

 _Life is full of so many simple crutches_  
 _It helps me walk, it helps me sleep, it helps me suffer_  
 _(Cry out) Love was never there_  
 _(Cry out) And I just didn't see it_

 _Weapons take on so many painful attachments_  
 _The faces change, but they say the same damn stories_  
 _(Cry out) Love was never there_  
 _(Cry out) And I just didn't see it_  
 _(Cry out) Love was never there_  
 _(Cry out) Now I don't think I even care_

boysetsfire - _Resection_

* * *

The next morning, Bathory and Negati made it back home. They had gone and recovered the car Bathory left at the market; the car Negati took to the warehouse initially would be returned shortly. From the outside of the home, and even from the front door looking in to the living room, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The two mages opened the door and stepped inside, still giddy from the leap forward their relationship had taken the prior night.

"Hey Arin, we're home" said Bathory. "And I have something pretty big to tell you!"

Bathory headed over to the bathroom, still talking out loud to wherever their third roommate may be.

"And sorry about kinda ditching you, but there's a long, long, long story to what happened – okay, well not that long, but…"

He flipped the light switch in the bathroom and the sight in front of him made him freeze. The large mirror above the sink and counters to the sides was cracked badly, with some pieces of glass laying on the counters or even on the floor below. It looked like something had smashed into it, hard enough to send cracks across the entire mirror.

Bathory suddenly sounded much more nervous.

"Negati?" he asked. "Can you come here?"

Negati had removed her shoes and headed over to Bathory.

"Sure," she replied. "What's going on?"

She stood right behind him, staring over his shoulder at the same cracked mirror and broken glass. She was also nearly frozen, staring on in shock.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know," muttered Bathory. "I…I don't know…"

Several ideas ran through both of their heads. Were they robbed? Was the house broken into? Did something happen while they were out?

Negati looked down at the glass on the floor and saw something else.

"Bathory – look!"

They both looked down at a trail on the tile leading from the counters back to the door. It looked almost like burn marks and there was a slight serration in the tile, like a blade of energy was run across it. Negati looked back, and parts of the carpet in the living room were slightly uprooted, as if a blade was run across it as well.

The path led straight from the bathroom to a closed door. That door led to Arin Vesceron's room.

Immediately, more thoughts ran through the mages' heads. If there was an assailant, did Arin get involved? Did he try and fight them off? And if so, did he fail?

"Arin!" Bathory yelled, running over to the door. "Arin, what happened?"

He reached the door with Negati right there as well. He pushed the door open forcefully and stepped in.

Again, he only made it a step or two before he froze. Inside the room, everything was trashed. Any furniture or items that decorated the room were now in several pieces, torn through and ripped up on the floor. Debris littered basically every section of the floor, aside from a small clearing where Arin sat against the opposite wall. His body faced the other mages but he was looking down at the floor.

"Arin…" Bathory whispered, looking around. "…holy shit…"

"What happened?" asked Negati. She walked over to the idle man, trying to avoid stepping on the rubble. "Did someone attack? Are you okay?"

The plain-faced man did not look at them, but he did respond.

"Do not concern yourself with my wellbeing, nor should you concern yourself with any act of intrusion. I am the cause for the damage you see."

At this, Bathory paused, and his expression shifted from concern to confusion.

"W…what? What do you mean?"

Arin looked up.

"I believed that the words I used made it clear, but I will restate. All the destruction you see around you is my own doing."

Bathory was at a loss for words. He had no idea what to say, and several thoughts almost made their way past his lips before changing again at the last second. Finally, something came out.

"W-well why? Why did you do this?"

Arin put his hand to the floor and stood up, eventually standing tall and facing Bathory directly.

"I realized in the silence of the night that my anger required a more drastic release than before to be satiated."

Everything kept catching Bathory off guard. Every new development shocked him as much as the one before. But here, Bathory's intonation changed again. With Arin's direct explanation, and the sheer blatantness he gave the truth, Bathory quickly began to get angry as well. Arin had cause all of this property damage due to a tantrum?

"W-well okay," said Bathory, with a bite now in his words. "I don't see how the logical, reasonable reaction to whatever keeps troubling you is to smash all your stuff! And our stuff, too. The bathroom's not just yours."

Arin's response also held a bite behind it.

"Bathory, can you not see that the logical shell fades when I experience my anger? Have you not told me countless times how irrational I can be?"

Somehow, Arin's directness and the own self-truth behind his words were the worst part. Another person with a normal mind would deflect away from themselves in this situation, but Arin was intentionally owning up to his negative behavior and still raising his own voice as well. This wasn't an apology – this was a retort to Bathory's accusation, and of all things, it was the truth! Bathory agreed with it! And the fact Arin was owning up to it while attempting to justify it nearly sent the other man into a rage.

"So how – how does this all lead to where we are now?" Bathory shouted. "What is your goal here? Did you want me to get like this? Did you want this reaction? I know you're not happy or satisfied with it. Sorry to bring it up, but I know _that_ much!"

Negati, who had been watching in stunned shock at the escalation, looked at Arin and thought she saw the small shimmer of…something…in his eyes. Something made her quickly jump between the two men.

"Hey, hey, wait!" she cried. She looked back and forth, making sure both men weren't going to do anything as soon as she let go. When she was satisfied, she spoke up again. "We can't do this again. We have to calm down. And if it means separating you two, I'll do just that."

Arin stared silently while Bathory clenched his teeth as his body started breathing heavier. Quickly, that died down too until nether man seemed to be a threat to the other.

Arin looked at Negati.

"You are right. I should separate. I should leave this household so that any escalation does not proceed further."

Neither of the other two knew about Arin's call with the General of the Siban TSAB the night before. Neither knew about the transportation back home he was expecting later that day. To them, that last sentence sounded like he meant going for a drive, or at the worst finding a hotel in the city. After all, his tracking device meant he couldn't leave the city limits, and he wouldn't do that, right?

Negati sighed.

"If it's what it takes, then…yeah. But…but things need to change soon. This can't continue."

Arin nodded.

"I am already in line with your thoughts."

As he went to push past Negati and Bathory, the other man stopped him. Bathory's tone had mostly neutralized, but there was still an edge to it.

"Arin, just answer me, please. Why are you doing this? You lasted so long keeping it all inside. Why can't you just continue to do that?"

Arin looked down into Bathory's eyes, answering quickly but definitively.

"You ask why I cannot normalize my emotionless self, and that is because I cannot forget that once I had the full range available. My state, with these limitations, is not my 'normal' self and will never be my normal self. You see my behavior as searching for arguments; I see it as providing reasoning to allow myself an emotional experience. After attempting to hide it for so long, also expecting one day that my acting would become second nature, I must finally accept what I have realized – that I would rather feel _this_ than _nothing_."

His final words were like stakes driving themselves through Bathory's heart. It was a truth that took two entire years to materialized and immediately washed away all the hopes and expectations Bathory had for his former teammate. Bathory knew Arin would never be fixed of the limitations put upon him, but he at least hoped Arin could be comfortable. Arin may always remember, but Bathory always hoped that Arin's new life was good enough to balance it. And evidentially, Bathory was wrong.

With no retort provided by the shorter man, Arin headed out of the room, grabbing the keys to the car the other two had just brought back. He opened the front door, stepped through, and it shut behind him.

Only now did Bathory seem to return to the present, and he took a couple steps back out of the room.

"Arin-"

He gave up nearly as soon as he started. His friend was driving off, and their relationship was now just a set of questions with uneasy or unknown answers.

Negati just walked up to Bathory and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, this isn't the end. This is just…a bump. Maybe Arin just needs some space. Worst case, he'll move out, but he'll still be here. You can still talk to him. But maybe he should get his own place for a while."

She headed over to the kitchen to grab something, leaving Bathory to just stir there. He began with a mumble, but as he continued, he got loud again.

"Yeah…maybe if he had gotten his own place earlier he wouldn't have smashed up OUR **_FUCKING HOME!"_**

"BATHORY!" Negati cried, spinning around. Now, her true intentions for the quick resolving of the argument came out. "Please, not now! Last night, we did something big, and I don't want a roadblock already. Did we talk too early? I don't…I don't want to think so. So please…please…"

Bathory didn't respond. Whatever he could say, it wouldn't be the best thing to say. So he just turned around, shambling back to the door into Arin's room and looking at the wreckage. A few seconds later, Negati pushed past Bathory with a large trash bag. She opened it, and put several splintered chunks of wood into the bag. Then, she looked at Bathory.

"Here, if you're not going to help, can you at least hold the bag?"

It wasn't sarcastic, more that she knew Bathory would mentally abstain for a while longer. Emptily, Bathory reached out and grabbed the rim of the trash bag, holding it open. Negati got to work picking up the trash and putting it in the bag, slowly getting rid of all the pieces lying scattered across the floor.

* * *

The last anyone had seen of them, Izah and Asana were flying away from the city, into the forest across the bridge. After Izah had left Bathory in peril, she brough herself and her familiar back to their original destination, the abandoned shack where the road into the forest first became cracked and perilous. From the supplies they had brought over, clothes and food and other materials were scattered across the floor. Through her wild sorting and searching, Izah had assembled a new set of clothes for herself, and her old set replaced the garments in haphazardly taking up space on the rotted, ruined wooden floor. After all that had happened earlier, the emptiness in her body and the sudden pain were very noticeable, and she searched through the possessions madly, trying to find something.

Behind her, Asana stood in her human form, still playing the images of their encounter with the TSAB mages over and over in her head. The guilt she felt then was even more compounded with the situation on the bridge and the unknown fate of the man Izah had attacked. Asana saw both officers clearly, and heard the desperate voice of the redheaded woman begging for help from the woman who had just tried to hurt them. The thoughts didn't leave her mind; they couldn't leave.

"Miss Izah!" Asana cried, her ears sticking straight up and her tail rigid as well. "Please, this has gone too far. You're hurting people. You're doing some very bad things."

Izah looked back, almost snarling her answer.

"Don't leave yourself out of this, Asana."

The foxgirl hugged herself tightly and shut her eyes.

"I know, and I'm so sorry! I don't want to do this. This isn't right."

"Well it's the way it is," spat Izah. "So get over yourself already."

Coming up empty, she moved to the next pile of clothes, rifling through the pockets desperately looking for the medicine her body needed.

"Come on!" she yelled. "I know I had _some_ left. I'm not empty yet."

Behind her, Asana just stood firm again. Her hand felt into one of the pockets of her own clothes, making sure what she took was still there.

"Miss Izah, those officers were right. Everyone just wants what's best for you. Everyone wants you to be happy."

Again, Izah rapidly spun around, shooting daggers from her eyes at Asana.

"You know what would make me really happy, Asana? If you'd just shut up and start looking as well. You're my familiar, so you should just do what I say and help me live."

Izah spun back around. Behind her, Asana balled her hands into fists. Everything had built to a head and she couldn't afford to be timid any more. She had to do something drastic, for her master's sake. She screamed, loudly.

"You want me to help, Miss Izah? Well that's exactly what I'm going to do. Look at me!"

Izah did so, and watched as Asana reached into a pocket and pulled out her master's remaining pills. There were only a few left, and all of them were in Asana's possession. Izah stared spellbound at them, and Asana spoke again.

"I'm going to help you, Miss Izah, and here is what we're going to do. You're going to follow me back to that Bureau building, and we're going to turn ourselves in. They can help us, Miss Izah, I know they can."

With a gulp, Asana put the pills back in her pocket. She looked on as Izah seemed like more of an animal now, staring at Asana's pocket like it were a treat or a toy. The air was motionless inside the run-down hut.

Quickly glancing over, Asana took a small step towards the door leading out of the shack. Maybe this would be easy. Maybe she would start flying away and Izah would submit to her. With another gulp and another small step, Asana spoke again.

"Umm…s – so…that's my plan, Miss Iza-"

Suddenly, Izah sprung forward, stumbing but keeping herself upright and lunging for Asana's pocket. The familiar cried out and deflected Izah's hand as her master ran into her and shoved her back against the wall. Before Asana could recover, Izah closed the distance again and the woman wrapped both hands tightly around her familiar's throat. The foxgirl was lifted up and she stared off horrified, her eyes bulging and her body moving wildly. She couldn't breathe.

Her legs flailed uncontrollably and her hands feebly tried to pull Izah's hands away from her throat. Al the while, she made small, guttural sounds as she tried to breathe in to no avail. She began to feel that horrible feeling of her body and mind screaming for air, yet all her flailing was accomplishing nothing.

Izah took one hand off Asana's neck, but the other was still strong enough to pin her to the wall and block her airway. With her free hand, Izah held her palm out, open to Asana.

"You know what I want from you," she said coldly. "There's one thing you can do that'll make me let go."

Behind all the panic and fear flowing through Asana's mind, there was one solid, concrete thought, and that was what her master wanted – the pills in her pocket. Asana knew Izah wasn't going to help her get them, and also that Izah was serious about this. If Asana wanted to keep living, she had to move.

Fighting the urge to continue panicking and flailing wildly, Asana put all her effort into deliberately reaching down and into her pocket. Still, every moment that went by made her body scream out louder and the darkness overtake her vision more and more. In her panic, the action was harder than it should have been, and her hand searched around for the opening as she lost precious time. Finally, when Izah was little more than a blurry figure in the foxgirl's eyes, and her current gurgled gasps would have been some of her last, she got the pills and held them out before dropping them.

Izah smiled. Though Asana had sent the pills to the floor, at least they weren't in her possession. She let go of her familiar's neck and Asana fell to the side, taking wild gasps as she pulled in air as rapidly as she could. Her hand clawed against the floor and she shut her eyes as her head now pounded with the tension that had built up in it. After that, she curled up, holding her knees tightly to her chest. Her heavy breathing had finally lessened.

Next to her, Izah wasted no time taking one of the few pills and swallowing it, letting out a sigh of relief as she ignored Asana's agony. Izah sat with her back to the wall, looking down at the couple pills remaining. She shut her eyes as well and put the pills in her own pocket next to the standby form of her device, Greater Call, patting her side to make sure they were really there.

With how much she had exerted and how much her body needed the relief, Izah almost immediately swung the other direction, feeling incredibly relieved and almost giddy. She crawled over to Asana and laid down, face to face. As the foxgirl remained silent, Izah put her arm on Asana's shoulder.

"Oh, poor baby…" Izah mumbled. "I'm so sorry for that…but you know we can't do what you wanted…"

Izah went in for a hug and Asana uncoiled, letting the air mage press tight against her. Izah's eyes were closed, though, and she couldn't see the expression – or lack thereof – on Asana's face. Even with the breath back in her lungs and the blood in her veins, her eyes were vacant. Her expression showed no life, at least for the moment.

"M…Miss Izah…" muttered Asana, "I just…"

The foxgirl touched Izah's side, which immediately elicited a reaction. Izah turned and rolled away from Asana, moaning in displeasure. The pill was obviously going into effect.

"Noooooo…nooooo, this is mine…"

Izah moved over to the other side of the room and curled up like how Asana was, preventing any access to her device or her pills. From this far away, Asana pushed herself up with one arm and looked at her master. It was a sight that broke Asana's heart - her master, so frail and isolated from the world, but on the brink of doing something truly horrible. As Izah got closer to running out of her supply, things would only get worse. The drastic actions she would do, and would make Asana do, would only get worse. And Asana couldn't let herself be a part of that.

Asana's purpose was to support Izah. Her purpose was to save Izah and help her get better. And if that involved leaving her side, turning herself in to the Bureau, and helping them convince Izah to step down and come peacefully, that would be what she would do. She missed Vaele. She missed the way things were. She imagined the way things could be, without any of this sadness, where Izah was healthy and safe.

She would wait until Izah was truly out of it, and then she would run.

* * *

 _I built this wall around my heart_  
 _To shut you out I've played my part_  
 _In this game that I thought was real_  
 _In this hate that I know feel_  
 _If I ever fall again_  
 _Will I just turn it to the wind_  
 _And let it fly away with pain?_  
 _Or let it fester into shame?_  
 _This cold dark place inside my mind_  
 _Will keep my safe and far behind_  
 _So you can never hurt me again._

 _Nothing can ever hurt me again_  
 _Nothing can ever hurt me again_  
 _The way you did, the way you did_  
 _And nothing can ever erase_  
 _A small dark place where i can hide_  
 _A small dark place where i can hide_  
 _Where you can never hurt me again_


	16. The Same Sun

**Chapter 16 - The Same Sun**

* * *

Nemelendelle TSAB headquarters:

Vaele sat in his room in the barracks. He rested on the edge of the bed, holding a neatly folded plain white shirt he'd retrieved from the closet. The doors to it were left open and Vaele gazed back. There were several sets of identical clothes – a plain white shirt and plain black athletic shorts - his training uniform. They were basically his entire wardrobe now, since he hadn't been able to go back to the house where the rest of his stuff was. It was his second day of working with the bureau and temporarily living there, and the room he could call his own wasn't helping him settle in at all.

Tiled floor. Plain, perfect white walls. No window. At least back at the house, when Vaele locked himself in his room to work on his device or just to escape the reality of his sister's condition, he could distract himself with a decent view of nature out the window, and sometimes during sunset the colors would provide a show and get his attention. But here, either the lights above painted things in a utilitarian drabness, or they were off and little could be done except sleep.

He wasn't supposed to stay cooped up in this room. Training and other activities to integrate him into the Bureau were supposed to keep him busy, and it was also the special set of circumstances with his sister that left him temporarily in limbo. But the change of scenery, the identical clothes, the regiment he now followed – it all just felt so alien to him.

He sighed and put on the shirt. He needed to get ready for today's training. Yesterday, Bathory had tested the boy to get a basic profile of his skill and competency. Now, Vaele would be with an actual Instructor, with other actual recruits. Maybe there would be some of the mages from that open session Vaele had dragged himself to that kicked off all this mess in the first place. Maybe someone would recognize him. But did he want that?

He was interrupted by his storage device.

[INCOMING CONTACT – UNKNOWN NUMBER]

Someone was calling him who hadn't before. With mild interest, Vaele got up and answered.

"Hello?"

A screen appeared in front of the boy, and on the screen was Asana.

"Vaele!" she cried out, relieved.

"Asana," Vaele said, now attentive.

The foxgirl was panting heavily, like she'd just been running. She was indoors, but that was about all Vaele could make out.

"I'm…I'm so glad…you're okay" Asana sputtered while catching her breath.

"Where are you?" asked Vaele. "Where's Izah? Is she okay?"

Asana nodded.

"Miss Izah…she's safe. But I'm not with her now. I couldn't be."

Every nerve in the boy was on high alert. He'd heard nothing about his sister since the mages she'd attacked came back, and now he was terrified to imagine what had happened since then.

"A…Asana," he stammered, "where are you?"

"I'm home. Back home. I couldn't go anywhere else. Vaele…"

Tears started forming in the girl's eyes, and she looked at the screen.

"…I need to see you again."

As a million thoughts ran through Vaele's mind, his eyes rapidly looked around, as if he were trying to follow them.

"But…but I need to…I have my…"

"Vaele, please," said Asana, "I need to see you again. Hurry."

Now the boy looked over at the desk, checking the objects he had in his possession. Could he even get back to the house? He didn't have a vehicle here at the Bureau. He was basically stuck here. But next to his new device was his wallet, and he remembered that yesterday he'd been set up with an allowance by the Bureau during his training period. If he had enough money to get transportation…

He snapped back to face the screen.

"Okay, Asana, I – I'll do my best. Stay there, alright?"

Asana sniffled and nodded.

"Hurry…please hurry…"

The call ended, and as the screen faded out, Vaele was already racing to collect his things. Dressed in one of the identical gym outfits, Vaele got his shoes on and raced out into the hall.

* * *

Outside the window of a small hotel room, cars passed by almost rhythmically. It wasn't anything near 'entertaining', but it provided background noise as Arin sat, thinking about his course of action but mostly just waiting. After his talk last night with Parkensine, he was now waiting on the next step of his request. He didn't know if he would have to wait only hours, or possibly days, but after he had basically severed ties with Bathory and Negati earlier that day, he needed a new place to stay and wait in.

He didn't have to wait that long, however. His device began to pulse.

[INCOMING TRANSMISSION – RECEIVED]

Arin looked down at the grey gem and Retrigal projected what it had been sent. There was no voice message, nothing from General Parkensine directly stating what he had done, but Arin knew the General had followed through with his request. On the screen were boarding passes and info on transportation off of Nemelendelle and back to Arin's homeworld, Siba. He'd be leaving by spaceship from Nemelendelle's port and traveling to one of the many stations in Dimensional Space that had direct public teleportation centers. There, he could jump to Siba.

Enough time was provided for Arin to get over to the spaceport and catch his flight, but there was not much leeway built into that. He needed to get going soon, but that was not a problem. There was nothing to re-pack and little that Arin would bring other than his device and the clothes on his back. If Parkensine could quickly get him a spot back in the Siban TSAB, and if he could fall back into the system he knew, he would need nothing else.

With a steady, determined, methodical pace, Arin also gathered his things and left the room.

* * *

Eratarka sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"I just don't see how it could get that bad that quick" she said.

"I know," said Bathory. "We argued before, but if I wasn't there, he seemed to keep to himself."

Inside the Captain's office, she sat behind her desk while Bathory and Negati stood across from her. Bathory leaned on the wall and Negati crossed her arms, looking off at the corner. They had come to the Captain's office with an update on Arin Vesceron.

"The last thing we said to him was when I asked if he was coming with me" said Negati. "He declined, sounding the same as always, and then we were out till this morning."

"So do you think he's dangerous?" asked the Captain.

"I don't want to say that," said Bathory, "but talking isn't working and now he's doing all of this – reacting – lashing out – on his own."

Eratarka nodded slowly, readjusting the hairband at the base of her ponytail.

"Well, I'm hesitant to send someone out to get him. I don't want a battle or any injuries while we still have Izah out there to find. We need to focus our attention on her."

Bathory and Negati looked over at each other. They talked just through their expressions for a second and then Negati faced her superior.

"Understood. Arin thought that separating from us might calm him down somewhat, and that's the best we can hope for."

Eratarka nodded again. She was going to respond, but her storage device began to pulse with an incoming call and it cut her off. She put her device on the desk and answered.

"Hello?"

A screen appeared, and on the other side was a young woman with short, parted light-hazel hair wearing an Instructor's uniform. Over the noise of several other voices and controlled shots of magic behind her, she spoke.

"Ahh, Captain, I have a question for you."

"Yes?" asked Eratarka.

"It appears that the Lumiere boy has not made it to our training session. Was he needed somewhere else at this time?"

Eratarka paused.

"He's not there?"

The Instructor shook her head.

"No, he is not."

"Hmm… he should be. I'll try to find him and send him over."

Eratarka ended the call and sighed.

"Hope he's not oversleeping."

"I can call him," said Bathory. "I'll see where he is."

Bathory swung the standby form of Aphelion around into his wrist and contacted Vaele. Another screen appeared in front of him with the TSAB logo slowly spinning in the center of it as he waited for the boy to answer. Eventually, Vaele did, and the screen changed to show Vaele's image. He was sitting down, apparently in a car, as the screen could see the landscape passing by out the window Vaele was next to. The boy spoke first, sounding very hesitant and unnerved.

"Umm…Bathory…hi."

Negati stood next to her boyfriend and Eratarka watched from the other side of the semi-transparent screen.

"Hey Vaele," said Bathory, starting off warm and positive, "where are you?"

The boy's eyes shot about nervously.

"I'm…w – why?"

"You're supposed to be at training, remember?"

The boy seemed to clam up even more.

"Y…yeah…but…"

Negati could recognize something was up. She shifted closer to the camera view, taking up the full screen.

"Vaele, cut the crap. Where are you? You can't skip training. You just can't skip the regiment the Bureau sets for you-"

Like a fuse breaking, Vaele suddenly opened up, shutting his eyes tightly and crying out.

"I'm sorry! Asana called and she needed me to see her, I had to go, I have to know what's going on, I-"

"Wait," said Bathory. He leaned in as well so that he was talking up the screen. "Asana called you?"

Vaele nodded weakly.

"What if something bad happened to Izah? She was so scared…I need to get there."

Eratarka stood up, focusing all her attention on the call as well.

"Where are you going?" asked Negati.

Vaele opened his eyes and meekly stuttered.

"B…back home…where we lived…"

Eratarka collected her device.

"We have to follow him" she said. "If either of them are there –"

"Just…just don't hurt her" said Vaele. "I'm sorry. We're all sorry."

With that, he ended the call, and the screen faded out again. In Eratarka's room, it was dead silent for a moment, then there was a burst of activity. All three mages went for the door and hurried through. Eratarka raced down the hall towards the garage and the other two followed.

"We need to get over there" said Eratarka. "If we can get Asana, we're one step closer to maybe reasoning with Izah."

"This is a trap" said Negati. "This is exactly what happened yesterday. Asana called begging for help, and then Izah was there for the ambush. But now she's going to do that to her own brother!"

Eratarka cursed under her breath and then held up her device again.

"Broadcast to all officers – there's a new development in the Lumiere case. If we have anyone free, we need backup."

They reached the garage and got to a Bureau police vehicle. Eratarka got in the driver's seat and the other two jumped in as well. Eratarka started the car and drove off as quickly as she could, activating the sirens and getting onto the streets of the city.

"We don't know if it's a trap this time," said Bathory. "Asana could have run off for real."

"Then if so," said Negati, "Izah won't be happy. We need to protect them."

"No matter what, something is happening," said Eratarka. "We need everyone we can get just in case."

Then, Eratarka's device began to pulse again. Frustrated, she got it out of her pocket.

"Urgh, now what!"

Another screen projected with information about something on it, and the Captain glanced at it while trying to also look at the road. Whatever was on the screen was something very unexpected.

"Shit!" she cursed.

"What?" asked the other two.

"Your friend, Arin. His tracker's telling me he's leaving the city."

The other two mages' eyes went wide.

"He is?" asked Bathory.

"Looks like it. Whatever he's up to, this isn't the time" said Eratarka, calling Arin's device. She set her device down and moved the screen so it wasn't right in front of her. Eventually, Arin responded, plain and emotionless as normal.

"Captain."

"Mister Vesceron," said the older woman, none too happy, "what do you think you are doing?"

Arin was also behind the wheel. He kept both hands firmly down to steer and simply stared at the camera.

"I intentionally chose to keep my true plans secretive for as long as I could so as not to attract attention. I am letting you all know right now that I am leaving."

All three mages on the other end were stunned by this.

"L…leaving?" asked Negati.

"I am presenting this as simply as I am able to do" replied Arin. "I am not staying on this planet anymore."

Eratarka sputtered, caught wildly off guard by this.

"B – but – b – but that's a violation of my direct orders, Mister Vesceron!"

"I understand that, Captain."

With a worrying thought running through his mind, Bathory leaned in and spoke next.

"Arin…where are you going?"

His friend and former teammate focused his attention entirely on the camera, digging his next words deep into the listeners.

"I am returning home, back to Siba. You will not be stopping me."

The words again stunned the other mages, though it hit Bathory and Negati much harder. Satisfied he had made his point, Arin reached up to end the transmission.

"A…Arin, Arin talk to me-" said Bathory. But then, the screen disappeared again and Arin was gone. No one knew what to say for a couple seconds, but then Bathory finally spoke up, crying out.

"Stop the car!"

Eratarka jammed on the brakes and the car skidded loudly to a stop. Bathory opened his door and stepped out, and then the other two did so as well. Bathory's heart was racing, and his body seemed to go on autopilot.

"I need to stop him. I can't let him do that," he said. "This is the worst mistake of his life if he gets back there."

He reached for Aphelion to activate it. Behind him, Eratarka called out.

"What about Vaele? Are we leaving him?"

Bathory spun around and faced the other two again.

"You two go get Asana. I'll try and stop Arin. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Just…just be safe," said Negati. She rushed over and hugged Bathory quickly, both understanding that time was currently precious.

"I know. I love you," said Bathory.

"I love you too."

They separated again, and Negati raced back to the car while Bathory gripped his device tightly.

"Aphelion, go! Flight Driver!"

The device transformed around his arm, and the dark green blade of energy formed in the groove on the right side. His barrier jacket also formed around him. As Eratarka's car drove off once again, Bathory ran forward and dug the blade into the ground, speeding off quickly back towards the road leading to the spaceport.

* * *

Bathory raced as faced as he could, soaring just above the ground as Aphelion cut a path across it. As he got towards the outside of the city and there was less and less activity, he could push himself and go as fast as possible without anything in his way. Eventually, he got to the long, straight road that connected the main city on Nemelendelle to the large spaceport that carried passengers and cargo down from above the planet's atmosphere. Arin had called from the edge of the city – the start of the long road. He had obviously made progress towards his destination, but Bathory hoped beyond hope he still had time to stop him. The port was always in the distance, though, and it was always growing closer.

As Bathory flew along the road, the wind pummeling his face, his body aching from the strain he was putting on his linker core, he finally saw something in front of him – a car, the same car that Arin had taken this morning. He'd caught up. Aphelion quickly did the calculations to slow its master down again. As Bathory closed in on the car, he launched himself off the ground, hoping to land on the car and get Arin's attention. But as he jumped, he realized he was maybe still going a bit too fast, and when he hit the top of the car he quickly began rolling forward down the windshield. With a panicked cry, he dug the blade on Aphelion into the hood and grabbed onto the recessed part at the top of the hood. He stabilized, and he looked up right at his former teammate behind the wheel.

"Arin!" yelled Bathory, reaching up and pounding on the windshield with his palm. "Arin, stop!"

Arin blinked a few times and then merely sighed before slamming on the brakes. Bathory barely got his hand back on the grip to hold on before momentum would have carried him off. When the car had slowed, Arin pulled off to the side of the road before stopping. He parked the car and got out.

Bathory slid off the hood to his feet, panting from the adrenaline.

"Ahh…okay…okay, let's-"

The taller mage walked around the car and then charged at Bathory, tackling him down. Out here, along the road, there was little vegetation on the hard, cracked dirt and Bathory gasped when he hit the ground. Arin grabbed the collar of Bathory's jacket and almost screamed at him.

"Damn it, Bathory, why are you coming after me?"

Bathory stared up at his friend.

"Siba, Arin? You're going back to Siba? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say."

The anger was already driving Arin. He was putting all of himself immediately into this argument.

"I told you," he said, "that I do not belong here. I do not, and cannot, fit in."

Bathory tensed up and rolled the two of them over so Arin was against the ground and Bathory was looking down at him.

"That doesn't mean you can run away from your problems." said Bathory.

"Then what were you doing when you left Siba? You followed Midchilda's lead and let them create your perfect life."

"Arin, you were there. You saw. I didn't run from my problems – I was dragged from them. I tried to go back to Siba. I tried so hard I nearly killed myself doing so. I have nothing there. Dad doesn't even answer when I try and call-"

Arin did the same maneuver, rotating to slam Bathory back down onto the hard dirt.

"Then you know how I feel! I have nothing on this planet. This was your experiment, Bathory, and it did not work."

"Because you didn't even try! Negati and I – we were both so nervous, so scared, and we showed each other so we could work together. You never showed us that anything was wrong."

"What am I to show you?"

"You know what I mean. Tell us you are struggling. Tell us you have reservations. I didn't know what to expect with you. I figured if it looked like you had adapted, then you had done so. I don't know exactly how you work, Arin. But you can't close yourself off. It's not hopeless. Let us help you. We can do more to help than you think we can."

The argument had cooled down somewhat. While there was still an anger there, it wasn't as strong as before. Arin sighed again and got to his knees.

"If you want what is best for me, you will let me leave. I cannot change from who I was before the procedure. I was born a Siban. I lived as a Siban. I will be a Siban forever on."

Arin stood up and began walking back to the car. Bathory struggled up as well and called out.

"But doesn't it horrify you, going back to work for Parkensine? You saw that he did all of this. You know he made you like this. Why do you want to go back to him?"

Arin stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

"I was only caught in the crossfire. You were always his primary target. If you do not involve yourself again, then I am sure I will not be targeted again. And no, Bathory, I am not horrified. That is one of the many emotions I lost because of you."

He looked ahead again and resumed walking. After a few more steps, green bands of magical energy suddenly formed around his torso and closed in, trapping his arms at his sides. The man paused again, narrowing his eyes and slowly turning around to face Bathory. The shorter mage's arm was held out, having summoned a binding spell.

Arin gritted his teeth together, and the anger returned.

"Bathory, what do you think you are doing?"

Bathory lowered his arm and raised his device, preparing for a battle.

"If I can't stop you as a friend, I'll stop you as an officer of the Time Space Administration Bureau. You broke an order given to you by the Bureau and left the city premises. You need to be taken in for further response and sentencing. I hope that we can go peacefully without further incident."

Arin stood in place.

"No, Bathory, you are not stopping me."

Bathory took a deep breath.

"Well, I'm not going to do nothing either. Aphelion, summon a charged shot."

[UNDERSTOOD]

The firing ports on Aphelion began to rotate, gathering energy in the base of the device to fire through all ports at once. Across from that, Arin balled his hands into fists and began to strain at the bindings. His mana reserves were fully charged, and versus Bathory, who had already used up some energy racing over here, it was only a quick struggle before the green bands shattered. Arin reached for his device and pulled out Retrigal. It transformed into the long staff with grey energy glaives at either end, and then Arin's body began to glow a bright white.

When the glow receded, Arin had gone into his barrier jacket. Like his staff and magic color, his jacket's primary color was dark grey, with black highlights up the middle of the front coat where it clasped together and at the top of his collar. His pants were a matching grey and then the shoes reflected the color scheme as well.

Arin held the staff part of Retrigal in one hand, holding his arm behind him and preparing to strike. Across from him, Bathory kept Aphelion aimed forward. The shot had charged, and now the firing ports just waited, glowing brightly from inside of them Both mages were ready, just waiting for one or the other to start.

The wind blew a gust across the open road, kicking up any loose parts of the two's clothing. When that settled, Bathory spoke.

"Aphelion-"

Arin suddenly rushed forwards, lowering the top of his body and curving slightly diagonal. Bathory's eyes shot open and he finished his command.

"Fire!"

He re-aimed at Arin as the other ground mage closed the distance. Aphelion fired, but Arin twisted to the side and the energy burst soared right above his back. Untouched, Arin brought his other arm back to grab Retrigal as well and with a loud cry, he swung.

Bathory jumped back as much as he could, but he still had to summon his barrier and the grey blades cut against the spell, staggering Bathory somewhat. Arin closed in and swung horizontally, forcing his opponent to duck. Bathory got Aphelion up and fired into Arin, hitting the barrier jacket and holding the other man off for a moment. In that short bit, Bathory stepped back, trying to stay out of direct melee range but still within the preferred range of Aphelion. The equivalent of shotgun blasts required Bathory to still be close.

Arin looked up and spun Retrigal in his band several times before swinging it forward, launching a projectile of grey energy from one of the sets of glaives. Bathory twisted away from it and he quickly raised Aphelion again to fire as quickly as he could at Arin, who was now racing back in. Arin put up his barrier, and it took all the shots without flinching as Arin thrusted his arm forward, holding Retrigal horizontal with a set of blades aimed straight at Bathory. Bathory quickly put up his barrier again, but as Arin's attack pressed against it more and more, Bathory felt the first signs of his barrier cracking and he was tossed back once again. He stayed on his feet, but he slid back a ways.

In the brief pause, the two stared each other down again. Bathory more obviously showed his weariness, breathing heavily. Arin also had to catch his breath, but his fatigue was hidden behind the hateful veneer on the man's face.

"Why do you want to keep me here anyways?" he asked. "You can't help me. You know you can't."

"That's not true," said Bathory. "You haven't wanted us to help you."

"And so I came to a decision, without any of your influence! It's best for everyone if I just leave."

"Everyone, huh? What about me? What about Negati? What about everyone else who you could help, if you chose to try? We want to talk to you, Arin, if you'll only let us in."

Arin began to spin Retrigal around again.

"No…I know how things need to be. You are the one who is blinded!"

He raced forward, putting up his Barrier again to block the shots Bathory sent out. He powered through them, but he did feel the kick against his barrier and his body as his linker core kept the protection speall up. When he closed in, he acted like he'd go for another swing and then faked Bathory out, spinning past him and grabbing Bathory from behind in a chokehold with his free arm. Bathory gasped and brought his arms up to Arin's while the taller man held Retrigal out in front of both of them, preparing to bring a set of blades into Bathory's defenseless stomach. Bathory only just got his arm back up to summon the barrier again before Arin swung Retrigal back in.

The grey blades crashed against the dark green barrier and spun, quickly causing the barrier to crack. If the barrier went down, the only defenses Bathory would have would be his jacket. In a desperate move, Bathory swung Aphelion out at the blades, knocking Arin's hand away but leaving a medium-sized gash on the outside of the device. With this, Bathory twisted out of Arin's grip, brought Aphelion right up against Arin's chest, and fired.

The shot kicked Arin like a mule and he twisted around, falling to a knee. Arin now panted heavily as well, resting there and holding his chest. Behind him, Bathory looked over at his device and checked the damage done. It wasn't pretty looking.

"Aphelion, how are you doing?"

[I AM EXPERIENCING MINOR DEFECTS TO ALL PROCESSES – I AM OPERATING AT AN ESTIMATED 70 PERCENT CAPABILITY]

Bathory nodded. He wasn't out of the fight, but he couldn't let Aphelion get damaged too much more without being severely handicapped. That second part was far away, though, compared to the battle he still was in. Maybe.

He aimed Aphelion down at the other combatant, but he paused.

"Arin? Are you okay?"

Arin rubbed the front of his coat where Bathory had gotten a direct attack in. The fabric was torn up, exposing his undershirt and small holes in that showing his skin below. It stung heavily, and now the front of his barrier jacket was compromised.

"Arin?" asked Bathory. "Can we stop this already?"

Arin stared forward, eyes wild, almost shaking from the hatred that had been building. He had to win this. He had to leave. Bathory couldn't stop him. He held his free hand up and curled his fingers.

"No."

Just as Bathory had done to Arin earlier, glowing grey bands of energy surrounded Bathory and raced in, pinning his arms tightly. He gasped out, and as Arin stood up, Bathory began to push wildly against the bindings. At the same time, Arin channeled his energy in Retrigal, making the blades glow brighter spin faster with the energy he was putting into them. With a loud roar, Arin swung Retrigal around, catching Bathory right before he could destroy the bindings.

[AUTO-GUARD]

A green barrier went back up in front of Bathory, but the attack cleaved right through it and into the other mage, launching Bathory back with a painful cry. Bathory slammed into the ground with a thud and skid along a little bit more, rolling onto his chest. His eyes were shut tightly and his mouth was open but no sound came out. The pure pain across his front that shot through all the nerves in his body left him silent.

Arin stood where he was, recovering from the attack. He needed to pause again, even though the anger in him begged him to do more. He lowered the bindings on his opponent and looked up to see Bathory clawing at the ground, trying to force himself up. With this, Arin staggered forward. As long as Bathory could move, the fight was still on.

Bathory had barely made any progress. He pushed against the ground with his hands, slowly getting to a knee. Just as soon as he'd gotten that far, Arin made it over and swung Retrigal again, slicing up Bathory's back through the jacket and into the skin. Bathory cried out again and dropped back to the ground.

Arin just paused again, staring down at his opponent. He was angrier than he could ever remember being. He wasn't blinded by the rage, but thoughts of further punishment certainly clouded his focus on the actual scene below him. He wanted to do more, do something else, maybe slice off that fucking robot leg that Bathory always brought up, that one 'consequence' of everything Bathory did that didn't play out perfectly in his perfect happy ending…

But Arin didn't exactly have time to do much more. He needed to get going if he was going to make his flight. And so he settled for kicking Bathory in the side, flipping his opponent onto his back and eliciting another grunt of pain. Bathory did little more than stare through pained eyes up at his friend.

Arin held out Retrigal again, aiming a set of blades at his former teammate's throat.

"Bathory…stay there. If you get up…if you try and stop me…I will kill you. I will stop you once and for all from ever interfering in my business. Got that?"

Bathory didn't nod. He didn't really do anything. He just laid there, eyes open, wincing at the new scars across his chest and back. Arin took all of that for a yes and slowly turned around. His car was there, on the side of the road, where he had left it before he was interrupted. Taking a deep breath, he started walking. With every step, he felt the pain from his chest flare up again. He kept one hand on the area, just hoping he would recover before he got too much further.

A green burst of energy rocketed through the air and slammed into Arin's back, breaking his train of thought and staggering him down to a knee. There was no quick burst of surprise within the man – he understood immediately what had happened. He spun back around to see Bathory standing up, aiming Aphelion forward again.

The immediate rage flowed through Arin again. He just might have been blinded now.

"Damn it, Bathory, what did I tell you? I WILL _KILL YOU_! I mean it. Think, damn it, think this through. I beat you! I'll beat you again! Use your head!"

Bathory took a step forward.

"Well, maybe my heart's a little louder than my head. I'm not letting you go. Aphelion, Razor Form."

[UNDERSTOOD]

The firing ports on the front of Bathory's device closed up, and several green spikes of energy shot out from the groove on the outside of the device. Bathory shifted so his arm was sideways and the spikes were facing forwards.

Arin trembled. He held Retrigal in both hands, gripping it white-knuckled. Finally, all sense of composure went away, and Arin just screamed. He rushed towards Bathory, losing all sense of tactics in a murderous, animalistic instinct. He swung in a large arc that Bathory quickly avoided then followed up with another very deliberate swing. Bathory rolled away from this one, and the pattern followed as Arin just attempted to swing the bladed staff with all his might over and over again.

After a few more swings, Bathory parried the energy blades on Retrigal with those of his device and then quickly swung at Arin's chest again, ripping the barrier jacket further. Arin clutched at the new wound for a moment before pushing on, everything else running through him dulling any pain he may be feeling. More desperate, violent swings maybe sent Bathory off balance for a moment but otherwise did little more. Another opportune slash from Bathory across his opponent's jacket sent Arin stumbling back again.

In the split-second break, Bathory could barely see the other man as a human – it was a wild, heaving creature, driven by an intent that had lost all reasoning. It was this explosion of anger, more violent that whatever Arin had done last night in his home. It was the buildup after the previous two years of anything he kept inside of him. It was a cry out – not for attention, and not necessarily for help either. It was the truth. Nothing held back, nothing twisted, nothing hidden.

But it was still Arin. It was Bathory's former teammate, Arin Vesceron. Bathory was still only fighting a human, using his device as a weapon. Bathory could get rid of that weapon.

Arin went in for another attack and Bathory deflected it again, leaving Retrigal sideways with the blades out of the way. Just like with Negati's barrier in his sparring match with her, Bathory dug the blades of his device's Razor form against the staff, catching it in the set.

"Aphelion," ordered Bathory, "cut it open!"

[UNDERSTOOD]

The green blades began to grind back and forth like a saw. Arin pulled on Retrigal, trying to free it, but it was trapped in the blades that rapidly began digging through the hilt.

"No…No!" yelled Arin, but Bathory's attack came too rapidly. With one last push, Aphelion ripped through the staff, shattering Retrigal into two. Arin briefly held the two ends in both hands before the device glowed and returned to its standby form, also cut into two pieces and now useless until it could be repaired.

This was a sobering shock to Arin, and he suddenly looked up at Bathory, wide-eyed. He was frozen in place as Bathory reverted Aphelion to its standard form and aimed it at Arin again.

"I'm sorry about that," was all Bathory could say. "Fire."

Aphelion shot another burst of energy straight into Arin, and with everything else that had happened to the man over the course of the battle, this launched him back and now he slid across the ground. When he came to a stop, there were few signs of activity from the mage. He was swimming in his own head for the moment, drifting slowly back into consciousness, still awake but not yet responsive.

Bathory held his hand out.

"Clamp bind."

Around Arin, the green rings of energy formed around the man's body again. Now too weak to escape, it was the definite end to the fight.

With that, everything keeping Bathory standing almost rushed out of him as well. His legs felt like jelly and he fell to his knees from the sudden inability to keep his own balance. He had to get over to Arin, though. He meant to defeat him, but he didn't mean to knock him out if that had happened.

After a few stumbles, Bathory got over to his friend. It was all he could do, though, and Bathory fell to his knees before just falling to the ground and rolling over, panting heavily. He squinted from the rays of the sun.

"Arin…" he gasped, "Arin…you there?"

Arin rolled onto his back as well. His actions now were a complete reversal from how he'd been during the battle – at least, a reversal in Arin's limited emotional palette. He was completely stoic and did not even attempt to struggle against the bindings.

"It appears that you have defeated me," he said.

Bathory laughed softly.

"Yeah…yeah, I guess I did…"

Bathory just wanted to pause for the moment, ignore all the follow-up and what's-next that would come later, but Arin was focused and direct on the matter.

"I presume you must arrest me now."

Bathory groaned.

"Eeeeehhhhh…I guess…"

"I attempted murder on an officer of the Bureau. Ignoring all other crimes, that alone requires swift and immediate action on your part."

Bathory sat up. He looked forward and sighed again.

"Maybe. Probably. But hey – one good thing about not getting to Siba – at least you might spend months doing community service here rather than years in a maximum-security prison."

He chuckled again, trying to get Arin to open up, but the other man was having none of that.

"The keys are still in the ignition. I did not even remove them when I stopped the vehicle."

Bathory looked away, then faced down at the ground.

"Okay, I get the point. Give me a few minutes to get my bearings and all that."

The wind blew past both of them again, and a low, distant noise from behind Bathory alerted the young man. He spun around to see a ship lifting off from the spaceport, defying gravity with the thrusters that pushed it higher and higher into the air. The trajectory of the spaceship curved, and it began to fly horizontally as well as upwards, carving a path across the sky until it faded into the distance.

Bathory laid back down. He had to squint again.

"The sun's…pretty bright today, isn't it?"

Arin responded nonchalantly.

"Yes, it is."

Bathory sighed once more.

"Well, I'm glad you're still here to see it with me."

* * *

The taxi dropped Vaele off at the edge of the driveway. As it backed out and headed off again, Vaele stared at the outside of the house in front of him. It didn't look any different. It had only been a few days since Vaele was here last. But so much changed in that time, and so much uncertainty was inside, that the sight of it seemed to turn the boy into stone. But it couldn't stop him. Asana needed him. And from the lack of activity coming from inside the home, she didn't yet know he was there.

Vaele took a step, and then another, and soon was moving rapidly up the driveway, even running up the front door and shoving it open.

"Asana!" he shouted, closing the door behind him. "Asana, are you here?"

It was dark. The blinds were all shut and the lights were off. The sun could barely pierce through all that covered the rooms from the outside world. Vaele paused at this. He felt uneasy in the darkness, and he reached for the lightswitch.

"Vaele," said a high-pitched voice.

Asana stepped out of her master's room, taking a slow, deliberate step and the stopping again. She waited there as Vaele ran over and hugged her.

"I'm so glad to see you too," said the foxgirl.

"I…I haven't heard anything from you or Izah, I was so scared."

Asana rubbed the boy's back.

"I know. I'm so sorry I couldn't stay with Miss Izah."

Vaele stepped back and looked at the familiar.

"What happened? Is she okay?"

"She is safe, yes, I just…couldn't help her anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

Asana hugged herself tightly, again remembering what Izah put her through.

"So many bad things! She was so mean…She hurt me too…"

"What? She did?"

Asana nodded. She could still feel Izah's hands around her neck, even if the marks had gone away.

"She has very few pills left in her possession."

Vaele looked around worriedly.

"And what happens when she runs out?"

"I don't know. She is convinced she will die. And if no one is able to help her…then…then…"

Just then, both of them heard sirens coming closer from off in the distance. The foxgirl looked out toward the window.

"Is that…the Bureau?"

Once again, Vaele started to freeze up.

"I…they called me, and…I couldn't keep it from them! They know you're here!"

Asana just waited a moment and then responded.

"Good."

"Good?" asked Vaele. "But…but doesn't Izah need you?"

The sirens got even louder until it was obvious they were right outside the house. Asana stepped forward, heading for the door.

"Yes, Miss Izah needs me and you. And we need all the help we can get to make her listen!"

Asana opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. Outside, several mages had taken position, aiming identical staffs at the porch and waiting to fire. Captain Eratarka and Negati Winter stood in front of them.

"Asana!" shouted Negati, "Surrender yourself and come quietly."

Asana shut her eyes and thrust her arms out to her sides.

"I surrender!" she cried. "I surrender!"

* * *

 _As alone and forsaken as you'd like to be_  
 _there are shoreless miseries of oceans, not seas._  
 _While you wallow and wail in your tower of ivory_  
 _your sister is starving, your brother is begging._

 _Wake up, look up, there's a warmth up there._  
 _A reminder of peace, a reason to care._  
 _Wake up, look up, that's something you share._  
 _There's more to life than the boy in that mirror._  
 _Wake up, wake up, wake up._

Have Heart _\- The Same Sun_


	17. Eternal

**Chapter 17 - Eternal**

* * *

The doors to the planetary Bureau headquarters opened, with Captain Eratarka and Negati leading in front of Vaele and Asana. The foxgirl's eyes scattered about, still somewhat unsure about her plan and nervously looking for signs of danger. She had seen a small amount of the TSAB building when her master was dragged there by that cold, unwavering man, but this was new territory.

Eratarka looked back, seeing the emotion run through Asana's face. She stopped, turning to face the others.

"I know you might be worried, and also you might be lost. I can point you to a map shortly after we meet."

"Vaele should know his way around as well," said Negati. She faced Asana. "I presume you can stay with him for the moment, right, Captain?"

Eratarka nodded.

"That depends on your level of cooperation. If you are sincere in assisting us to the best of your extent-"

The familiar's ears perked up and she stood straight, interrupting the Captain with a fervent response.

"I am! Trust me, I truly am. Miss Izah needs me to do this. She needs everyone's help to save her. I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen."

The Captain smiled.

"And I don't doubt you. You and Vaele are just as much a part of this team as any officer. As long as you help us, we won't treat you any differently. You're not a concern."

Just then, the front doors slid open again. The four people looked towards the doors and saw Bathory returning with Arin in tow. The taller man stood there with dark green rings of magic pinning his arms to his sides, led along by a hand lightly pressing his back. He showed no resistance to this. Next to him, Bathory looked fairly roughed up. Patches of dust clung to his bruised skin and he walked somewhat awkwardly, trying to ignore the pain from the new scars up his back.

Eratarka smirked and began to walk back to the doors.

"And speaking of…"

As Bathory and Arin made their way over, Asana saw Arin and immediately felt anger. She almost ran up to him, pressing right up to him and pointing her finger accusingly.

"You! I can't forgive you for what you did to Miss Izah."

Arin didn't respond. Instead, Vaele called out to get the foxgirl to back down.

"Asana…we don't want to fight."

Eratarka met Bathory and Arin as well and quickly got a word in as Asana backed off.

"Looks like you're still here, Mister Vesceron. That little escape plan of yours didn't quite work out, huh?"

Arin didn't respond to her either, and instead Bathory changed the subject.

"Seems like we're right on time, Captain."

Eratarka looked back as Vaele and Negati caught up to the rest of the group.

"Indeed," she replied, "Asana was there at the house, it wasn't a trap, and she's made it clear she means to help."

Negati went to her boyfriend, greeting him and pulling him in for a hug. Bathory tried to alert her before she did so, but she made it happen and he grunted from her contact with his new bruises.

"Aaah, Negati, don't touch there…or above that…or really that whole side…"

"So, Mister Vesceron," said the Captain, "looks like we need to have another talk. And you're not going to like this one either. Say, what happened out there, wherever Bathory stopped you at?"

Bathory laughed lightly and butted in, trying to downplay the scene again.

"Nothing really, just a light scuffle."

"Bathory, I appreciate your efforts to cover the extent of my actions, but I must answer truthfully," said Arin. Then, he addressed Eratarka. "I attempted to stop Bathory from sabotaging me at all costs. Our battle did become quite heated, though Bathory's determination meant that we did not escalate past the states we are both currently in."

Bathory chuckled again.

"Which, for me, is barely standing, but for Arin…I can't really tell, he seems alright. Well, except for this…"

Bathory reached into his pocket and showed the heavily cracked form of Arin's device to the rest of the party. There were murmurs among the audience, and Eratarka raised her eyebrows at the sight.

"Hmm," she said, "we will definitely have to get that over for repairs. And that can happen while we figure out what to do with you, Mister Vesceron. You're gonna spend at least tonight in a holding cell, and then it depends on what I decide to do with you. You broke an order the Bureau officially set for you, and then you didn't go down without a fight. Master Sergeant Kardenis is gonna try and save your skin, but I haveto keep everything in mind as-is when determining the next step."

Arin still didn't try to struggle or talk back at all. Instead, he began a measured response to Eratarka's decision.

"I understand. I believe some time to myself would be quite beneficial. There are some questions concerning my attitude and my immediate future that Bathory presented to me in our fight. Considering I was not able to follow through with my intended actions, I must evaluate the direction I will go in now that I am forced to remain on this planet for the immediate future."

Eratarka stood there, still staring but frozen silent. Though an appropriate answer from the emotionless, logical man, it was still not the expected answer by any degree. Finally, the Captain responded, though obviously caught off guard and hesitant.

"W…well…if you learn something from this, then…then that's what I intended anyways."

Bathory changed the focus of the conversation again, looking over at the familiar.

"So Asana…good to see you again."

Asana looked down shamefully, remembering that the last time she saw either mage, her master was trying to hurt them. Could the other two really just be ignoring that?

"Umm…y…yeah…I…I'm sorry, again."

"Don't worry," said Negati. "Bathory and I are fine. No worse for wear. And we can't dwell on the past too much – we have something more pressing to worry about."

Asana nodded and looked back up. She had some real energy behind her words.

"I'll tell you everything I can. I know what Miss Izah's feeling, and I know she's scared. I'm here right now to help her, and I couldn't do that by letting her do what she wanted any longer."

Negati looked over.

"Do you know where she is?"

Asana nodded. Her tail twitched a couple times.

"I know where she is hiding. She is down to only a couple of her pills, so we need to get to her fast!"

"Understood," replied the Captain. "We need to get a plan together. Asana, Vaele, you two follow Negati and I back to my office. Bathory, lead Arin to the holding cells. After you get him settled, come back and join us."

"Yes, Captain," said Bathory.

Eratarka looked at the group.

"Well then, if you will follow me-"

Suddenly, before they could move, there was a ringing sound and something buzzed in Asana's pocket. All eyes in the group looked at her, but she was frozen in shock. There were few others who knew how to contact her, and only one of them would possibly feel the need to at the moment. It had been hours since Asana had run away back to the Lumiere house. Someone had finally awoken again. Asana slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out the communication device. A small screen projected the caller info and it was exactly who Asana feared it was.

"Is it Izah?" asked Vaele. He looked on hopeful, desperate to see that his sister was alive and well. "Answer it!"

Asana rapidly scanned the faces of the Bureau officers. Aside from Arin, they all looked on with intent as well.

"Go ahead, Asana," said Negati. "Answer it."

The familiar gulped and then answered the call. A larger screen appeared in front of the entire party, and the face of Izah Lumiere filled across the screen. It was a rough-looking, haggard face, with droopy eyes and un-combed hair. And when Izah immediately spoke, it sounded partly slurred.

"Asana…"

"Izah!" cried Vaele. He moved to the center of the group and pushed in front of them. "Izah, where are you?"

The woman closed her eyes and just giggled before re-opening them. With a slight smirk, she answered.

"I'm not here to answer your questions. I want to see Asana. You weren't by my side as I told you to be, weren't you?"

Asana took front and center again.

"I…I'm sorry Miss Izah! I really am! But I had to do this for your own good."

Izah chuckled again and responded in an overly dramatic tone.

"Oh, and whatever did I do to deserve such allies who will leave me without remorse when I need them most? I ordered you to stay with me, Asana, and you cannot overrule your master."

Negati leaned in to respond.

"You told us you wanted Asana to help you get better. She's doing exactly that. She's not the one who pushed her family and friends away from her. She's not the one desperately lashing out to save herself, ignoring everyone who wants to help."

"You don't know me" spat Izah. "You don't know how painful this is. You don't know how much this hurts. You don't know how to save me."

"But I do!" cried Asana. She pushed herself right up into the screen, pleading to Izah on the other end. "I know how you feel, Miss Izah! We're connected – I know what you mean. I know what you're feeling in your body. Please, Miss Izah, I know. I'm your familiar."

"YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILIAR!" yelled Izah. "You are ANYTHING but. You're a betrayer, a backstabber, a traitor! You are worthless. You have no purpose. You have no reason to exist!"

After the outburst, Izah lowered her head so the screen only captured the back of her head. She breathed heavily, having obviously put a lot of her energy into that. At the same time, everyone on the other end just stood there, wide-eyed, silently staring back at the screen. Asana was still in front. The words pierced through her like daggers. Her eyes started to shimmer, and a single tear formed at the corner of one of them.

"M…Miss Izah…" she trembled.

One the other end, Izah's heavy panting slowly started to turn into something else. Her body shook, not from the anger but from a soft chuckle instead. It continued, growing in intensity, never reaching loud laughter but still being obvious to the party on the other end of the call. Izah looked up, her eyes obviously making several realizations and putting a plan together in place. Whatever she thought, it was still too funny to speak, and Bathory broke the silence in the Bureau headquarters.

"Izah…" he asked, "what are you doing?"

The air mage looked to the side and muttered something to herself, too quiet for the others to hear.

"What's going on?" Negati asked. "Izah, what are you saying?"

Izah's chucking lowered until her body would only slightly shake, and she looked back at the camera maliciously. Slowly, she repeated what she said.

"A familiar without purpose is useless. And a familiar that is useless has no reason to be kept."

Asana suddenly felt a knot deep inside her stomach. Shaking her head, she tried to speak.

"M…Miss Izah…"

The older mage cut her off, looking directly into the foxgirl's eyes.

"Remember, Asana, I'm keep you alive. I made the contract that's binding you here. And now, I'm breaking it and letting you go."

Asana felt another knot, and she tried to speak.

"Mi-"

But then, a horrible feeling racked through her whole body. With a cry, she dropped to her knees. Her hands pushed against the ground, trying to steady her as she suddenly fought to inhale again. It wasn't loss of air that was the problem – it was something deep in her body, a feeling of something receding that she knew was that magical connection keeping her alive

On the other end of the call, Izah winced in pain as well.

"Now, we could've talked this out. We could've agreed together to depart, and it coulda been a lot easier than this. But I want you to know what you did to me. I want you to regret leaving my side and joining those who want to hurt me more. And I want you to know, I feel this too. It ain't easy letting you go. But at the end of it, I don't need you. I'm the human. No matter what, I'll stay alive."

Another terrible feeling coarsed through the foxgirl and she cried out loudly. She collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain again, but then she started to glow. Before the group of mages who were all still stuck in place, Asana receded into her normal form. A light brown fox quivered in pain on the floor, shouting out in animalistic barks and whimpers as its legs kicked out violently.

Finally, Eratarka found herself able to speak. Unable to look away, she simply shouted out to anyone who could here.

"We need a doctor! Get someone here now!"

On the screen, Izah shuttered from her own pain but responded with another casual smirk.

"A doctor can't do anything, Captain. I break the contract, and she goes away. That's how it works."

The group was still paralyzed by the scene in front of them, too shocked to take any real action. However, there was one mage among them who wasn't shocked. He couldn't be. Shock, surprise, fear, anything like that was entirely barred from his brain. Arin knew that someone would have to take action now if they were to be able to do anything, and he also knew he would have to be the one to do so. With a quick struggle, Arin shattered the binds that were already most weakened by Bathory's distraction, and he ran up to Asana, kneeling down to her. The fox still quivered violently, releasing pained gasps when it was able to do so. Arin put one hand on the animal's body and looked up at the screen.

"Izah, do you truly wish for her to die?"

Izah looked curiously at the actions that played out before her.

"Of all people, you are the one who has become sentimental? You, who ignored our pain before?"

Arin kept his gaze fixed on the air mage.

"She never wished any harm upon you. She only ever acted with the best intentions. Do you truly want to send her to her death? She has so much to offer for others who want her around. Do you wish for her to die, or do you only wish she was not yours?"

Izah looked on, now curious by the strange answer from the even stranger man.

"What do you mean?"

"Will you let me attempt to make a contract with her?"

Izah paused now, biting lightly at her lower lip. Then, she shrugged.

"You can try. I'm through with her, but you might still have a chance before she's gone. She's fading, but she's still there."

With one more threatening glare, she addressed the entire group.

"But I'll be seeing you again. I need those pills, and I know you're keeping them from me."

With that, she disengaged the call. The screen faded out, and the communication device lay motionless on the floor where Asana had dropped it. Acting quickly, Arin turned the fox over to face him. Its eyes were still open, and its chest still moved up and down with its breath, but without a magical connection, the animal would soon fade away. Arin tightened his grip on the fox and spoke to it.

"Animal, I wish to make a contract with you."

The fox's vision was fuzzy, but it slowly seemed to look up at the mage. Arin began to channel magic through his hand and into the animal.

He spoke again. "Your name will remain as it was. Your appearance will stay the same. Do you remember who you are, Asana?"

Behind him, Bathory took a small step forward. He reached out, though he was hesitant to distract the man. Under his breath, he muttered.

"Arin…"

The animal's eyes stayed focused on the kneeling man. As Arin channeled his energy in the animal, it found the strength to speak telepathically in that human language it just seemed to know. It was a female voice. It was her old voice.

" _And what…is my purpose?"_

Arin's body shivered. He was building more of a connection with the animal, but it was tough to keep his focus. The animal was so weak already. It seemed like it was reaching up, desperate to make another connection to keep itself alive. All Arin had to do was finish the contract, and he'd have a clear shot at trying to stabilize her.

"Your purpose…" Arin muttered. "Your purpose…is to live!"

Suddenly, Arin felt something like a hand reaching into his body, grasping at his very linker core. He gasped and fell to both knees, pushing his free hand against the ground as Asana had done to support herself before. For a moment, he couldn't breathe. The dying fox was incredibly out of sync with him, and the shock was so great it was like his body stopped for a second. The animal was reaching desperately for his magic, trying to establish the link, but in its state, the effect was like a generator sputtering to start but not quite making connection.

Resuming his ability to think, Arin shut his eyes and tried to focus. The link was there, though the linker core of the animal was faint. He could feel it, and he could feel how tough it was to reach it. The feeling inside him was alien, though. He had never taken a familiar, much less one that was nearly dead. Still, he knew what he had to do but it didn't mean it was easy to do it.

"Kaiser…give me the strength…" he mumbled.

He got back to his knees and picked the struggling animal up, cradling it against himself. Along with that feeling of a vice-like grasp at his linker core, he could almost feel a second heartbeat moving in and out with the energy being absorbed from him. The heartbeat started out weak and arrhythmic; one moment it beat slowly and then incredibly fast the next. But as the other heart began to slow and match his own, suddenly there was a vision in his mind, projecting itself before his closed eyes.

It was a void of colors without pattern that shifted around him. He felt himself floating, and he knew without looking that he was naked. In front of him, from a ball of light that formed itself from nothing, faded in another humanoid shape. It was a woman's body, with unmistakable fox ears rising out of her head and a bushy tail slowly waving behind her. It was Asana, looking the same in this human form as she had before.

In the vision, she opened her eyes, looking at Arin. In one steady motion, she held her arms forward, palms out. Despite only experiencing this for the first time, Arin knew what to do. He reached out with his arms and held Asana's hands tightly in his own. There was another feeling, almost just a field of warmth around him - another one he just seemed to understand - and he knew everything would be okay.

Without moving her mouth, Asana spoke to him.

" _Thank you…"_

Arin's eyes shot open and he gasped again. He was on his knees on the floor of the Nemelendelle bureau headquarters, partly hunched over something he was cradling in his arms. Catching his breath again, he looked down and saw Asana in her human form again, laying sideways and pressed tightly against him. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing hard too. She was still straining for any magic that their connection would get her, like she was drinking from a river after the desert she had just wandered through. It was selfish but needed, though it left Arin feeling drained himself. Quickly Arin's mind wondered about how this partnership would feel after they had both stabilized. He did not know how much of his magic supply a familiar would take or how much focus he'd have to put towards feeding her. He had acted quickly to make this happen, not impulsively but still without considering all the finer details of moving forward.

Since he was alert again, he had noticed that more of a crowd had formed in the interim. He cleared his throat and spoke to all without turning to face them.

"She will be okay."

Eratarka looked around at her subordinates. In a shaky voice, she addressed them.

"Sh…show's over everyone…move along…"

Bathory and Negati went to their friend, kneeling to face him.

"Arin…" Bathory spoke in a hushed whisper, "…you're crying."

The emotionless man blinked and reached up to rub his eyes.

"It put an incredible strain on my body" he replied. "I must admit it was an unpleasant experience. My body must have reacted in this way."

Vaele came over as well. He knelt down and put his hand on Asana's head.

"Asana, can you hear me?" he asked.

The foxgirl shuttered at his touch, but didn't act otherwise.

"I think she still needs a moment" said Negati.

Vaele sighed and then looked up at Arin.

"Umm…" the boy began, "t-thank you. I never thought that…that you…you would be the one…I mean, thank you is all I can say, so… yeah."

Bathory chuckled lightly.

"Yeah Arin, I hate to say it, but I didn't expect you to try this. I mean, maybe Negati or I, or Vaele, we'd come forward, and-"

"I knew one of us needed to act now to have any chance at saving her," said Arin. "I am sorry to say it, but you all would have been too late."

The ground mage looked down at the figure still laying in his lap.

"But there is another reason I did so. Bathory, when I attempted to leave the planet, you spoke to me about connecting with the world around me. Though I acted in denial at the time, I had the chance to reflect on connecting with the world, as you requested. I had the chance to reflect on my actions and I could easily path my actions over my time on this planet from isolation, to anger, to denial, and again in a circle that only grew stronger as time went on. At some point, I only listened to myself, and I only acted for the benefit of myself. And that led down the path where I would attempt to hurt those who were only trying to help."

Asana sniffled, and Arin cradled the back of her head. He could still feel the pull of the magic link and another heartbeat that depended entirely on him to function.

"I knew that I would need to reintegrate and that I would need to do something different. I would need to listen and contribute in a way that I had previously convinced myself was a waste of my time. I will always have these limitations that I, and you all, will need to deal with, but it in and of itself is not enough to separate me from others. And so, when I was faced with this situation…"

He looked back up at the others.

"...I saw that I could contribute in a way that would benefit others. I could use who I was in a positive way."

The others just remained where they were, stunned once again. Finally, Negati smiled lightly.

"Well…glad to see you think that."

Arin nodded.

"And along with those, we must also consider the obvious fact that if Asana were to go, she wouldn't be able to tell us where Izah was."

There was another short silence, and then Bathory began to laugh. It wasn't loud, but it was intense, and he had to shut his eyes and concentrate on keeping his balance. As Arin, Negati and Vaele looked over at him, he opened his eyes finally.

"I…I…Arin, if I didn't know better, I'd think you just made a joke."

Arin kept his plain gaze focused on the other man.

"I was simply presenting the reasons for my actions in an order that was most relevant to this discussion."

Bathory took a deep breath and nodded.

"I guess you're right…I can see it that way too."

Arin supported Asana and tried to stand up, but his legs shook and he didn't get far before having to fall to his knees again. He gasped, and all attention went back to him.

"Arin?" asked Negati. "Are you okay?"

The man grimaced and shook his head.

"I must be more drained than I first though. I did not notice this during the intensity of the moment."

In his arms, the foxgirl stirred once again. Everyone also heard the sound of a stretcher being rushed into the room from Eratarka's prior request for help.

The Captain sighed and looked down.

"Yeah, we all need to recover - especially you, Mr. Vesceron. Let's get you to the infirmary and see how you're doing."

* * *

This chapter was influenced by the song **Eternal** by **Alaskan** \- go check it out and imagine how the intensity of the song drove the creation of this scene here. Then, check the rest of Alaskan's stuff out. Adversity; Woe is another good album and the final tracks they released before breaking up, E.N.D, are killer too.


	18. No Roses No Skies

**Chapter 18 - No Roses No Skies**

* * *

 _With no shoulder, no hand, no body, no man,_ _no door,  
no heart to let you in:_

 _The sun can take too long_  
 _to end the endless night_  
 _I hear you, I feel you, I bleed with you_  
 _when our hearts begin to scream:_  
 _This life can feel too long_

 _But at night, you're dancing through the pain_  
 _even when you're the only one_  
 _no rose, no sky as full of beauty as the girl_  
 _who dies but rises with every morning's sun_  
 _alone_

Have Heart - _No Roses No Skies_

* * *

Everyone was in the small room located in the medical ward. Asana had recovered enough to stand at this point and was still in her human form, holding onto the railing of the bed where Arin was now laying. Their roles had reversed in a way – while she now felt the connection to his linker core and his energy powered her again, the new-found strain on his body and the stress from his drastic actions now left Arin too weak to do much but rest. The others stood around Asana, also close to the bed, though giving the familiar some space. They hadn't yet had time to talk about any of the details. The actions from before had happened so fast that no one could really begin to digest it until now. They had just started to breach the subject.

Negati took a deep breath.

"It's…going to be different than it was with Izah," she said, hesitantly. "Arin's…obviously…a different person."

Asana nodded. Instead of her normally-bright energy, she felt a wall of silent catharsis that kept her reserved. This was all still very sudden to her, and the pain she had felt from her experience was still fresh in her mind.

"I know," she said timidly. "I know what my new master is capable of, and I know what I am able to do now as well."

Arin was awake – he just wasn't saying much. He looked up at Asana as Negati continued.

"Izah and Arin have different abilities," she said. "Different skillsets. Izah used Midchildan magic, Arin's Modern Belkan. She has ranged ability while he is close-combat. And…Izah is an air mage, while Arin's…not."

Negati waited. She didn't know quite how much Asana knew about her situation. Maybe she knew everything from her link with her new master, or maybe she'd have to figure things out on her own. Negati didn't know. But Asana picked up on what Negati was getting at, and she quickly responded.

"I know what you're telling me. I have lost the ability to fly."

The answer brought another round of hesitation to the guests in the room. Nobody wanted to be the one to respond to that. After a few long seconds, Asana finally spoke again to clarify herself.

"But…I shouldn't regret what I may have lost anyways. I…I should be incredibly grateful that you would consider me worth saving. I should be thankful for what I have been given again."

Asana finally began to smile. It was still soft and timid, but Arin knew how much she truly intended it. It radiated from that magical link, and though he couldn't read her mind, he knew from the increased intensity of the pulses on that link as Asana's happiness transmitted into him and up to his own mind – where the feeling seemed to be suddenly blocked by barriers to his own emotions.

Arin knew that if it was time to discuss things, it was time to explain himself as well.

"Asana," he said, "I believe then that you have realized that I have my own limitations in my emotional capacity."

Asana responded, though she stammered a bit.

"Y…yeah, I...I see…"

Arin sighed.

"And you now realize that these barriers are unfortunately permanent."

"I…I see that as well. And…I'm sorry for how I saw you before. The way you were to Miss Izah…I didn't understand…"

Arin shook his head.

"You do not need to apologize, Asana. I should be the one apologizing to you. When I interacted with your group, I was acting only out of my own self-interests. I took your situation for granted as I was interested only in my own self-benefit. I did not feel the need to explain myself or develop a friendship with your previous master, as that was not a direct benefit to myself. It is with that attitude that I put her, her family, and you in this situation in the first place."

Arin took a deep breath now. He looked back at Asana, who was staring down at him, a mix of confusion, interest, and other conflicting feelings in her eyes.

"I spoke about this to the others after I finished forming our contract. You should know this as well. I presumed I was alone due to my limitations. I presumed it was isolating me from others, when in reality I was making the decision to let that be the case. And that led me to the point I was at when you met me. However, recently I was shown that that was not the case. Our community expects of me exactly what it expects from anyone – someone to contribute and be supportive of everyone's best interests and not just my own. Despite my limitations, I must live as anyone else would and support others as much as I may request their support for myself."

During his speech, Arin's view drifted away from his new familiar to the ceiling as he attempted to project his ideas as best he could. Quickly, his view snapped back to Asana.

"Asana, I realize that I did not add any definite purpose for you to fulfill in our contract. I would like to make a revision to the contract and add your purpose for assisting me."

Asana clasped her hands together and her eyes went wide.

"Oh?" she responded. "Please, go ahead!"

Arin took another breath.

"I would like you to support me in following the task I have set for myself. Please keep me connected with the situation around me and do not let me fall into the same trap I found myself in before."

Next to Asana, Bathory chuckled lightly.

"So, basically, get him out of the house every once in a while" he said. "He's a good guy. He's maybe a little frank, but he can do anything he puts his mind to."

Asana smiled brightly, and finally her usual upbeat nature returned.

"I understand!" she said. "You can count on me."

Negati chuckled as well and shook her head.

"I cannot wait to see how this turns out," she said. "Asana, if he ever starts boring you to tears, just call one of us up."

She looked at Bathory and both of them shared a smile. Then, Vaele spoke up.

"So…are you going to help?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" the familiar said.

Vaele looked down hesitantly.

"Um…then…whatever happens with Izah…do you care about her? Or do you hate her now?"

Asana's eyes shot open.

"Oh, Vaele, no, I don't hate Miss Izah. I will do whatever I can to save her still."

"But…but you're not her familiar anymore."

Now Asana looked away, waiting a second to respond.

"That doesn't mean that I can't still worry about her safety. Miss Izah is in a very bad place. She's very sick and scared too. So I want to help her still. No one should be going through what she's going through when so many people want to support her. Even with what she did to me…I know she wasn't thinking…"

Captain Eratarka cleared her throat.

"And speaking of, we need to start preparing for whatever Izah is going to do. We have the rest of her pills and it sounded like she'd do whatever it takes to get them back. This isn't just anyone we can battle back – this is a AAA mage we're talking about. If we can cut this meeting short, I think we need to shift our focus."

"What are you thinking, Captain?" asked Negati.

"I'm calling everyone back in. We don't have an ideal amount of time to prepare, but I especially need you two ready for battle, Master Sergeant, First Lieutenant. Vaele, I hope you've learned quickly since you joined up. Like I said, we need everyone. We need to expect an attack as early as tonight."

"Wait!" cried Asana. "What about us?"

Eratarka looked down at Arin. She sighed.

"Mister Vesceron, what is your status?"

"I do not know how long I will need to rest to recover completely. If Izah does not attack tonight, I may be available tomorrow."

"But I'm ready now!" shouted Asana. "I can't just wait here if Miss Izah does something. Please, I need to try and speak to her."

Eratarka sighed one more time.

"You just might be able to talk some sense into her. Maybe. Okay Asana, you can follow us as well. I'll make an announcement, and everyone should meet back with me in 10 minutes."

Asana's ears perked up and her tail wagged behind her.

"Oh, thank you Captain! I won't let you down."

Eratarka left the room, and Vaele went to go back to his dorm. That left Negati, Bathory, and Asana standing next to each other beside Arin's bed. Slowly, Negati and Bathory both looked at Asana.

"Well…" Bathory started, "this'll be interesting."

Asana smiled and nodded happily.

"Mmm! I'm very excited to get to know you all!"

The other two turned to leave, but Asana remained and faced her new master again.

"Um…I just need to say, one more time…I am very grateful that you saved me. I am indebted to you and as your familiar, I will do whatever I need to do to repay the favor."

Arin was unable to smile or show flattery. Instead, he gave the best answer he could to clarify his opinion.

"No one else believed your time here was over. The rest are very happy to have your continued presence and I am looking forward to working together on our goals."

Asana smiled brightly and shut her eyes.

"Aha…thank you…"

* * *

In the sky, the sun began to set behind the horizon, painting multicolored trails across the sky. Nemelendelle seemed to stand still, peaceful and calm before the inevitable storm. Far above it, looking down on the city below, a lone woman hovered in place, backlit by the light that was slowly fading out and taking those colors with it. A light wind blew the ends of her hair to the side.

Izah looked on with one last moment of clarity. The roaring pain in her body temporarily receded long enough for her mind to make that final decision of going through with the plan she had made. When the pain would return, she would remember how much she needed her pills back and she would go down to get them. But for now, she had that moment of clarity. She held the standby form of her device in her hand, and then brought her arms to her chest, holding them against herself tightly. She lowered her head and shut her eyes. She spoke to herself, though addressing whatever audience she imagined it was for.

 _To everyone…I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I could not keep this lie up any longer. I'm sorry Vaele…I'm sorry Asana…and everyone else I may hurt tonight. But I cannot do anything else. These last days broke my heart, my loving, my youth, my hope... All departed from life. Let me keep sinking. Let me keep drowning. I am no one, and I am nothing._

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and held her hand up to look down at the dark blue gem.

"Greater Call…come out."

[ACTIVATING]


	19. Sister

**A/N:** So this is the final battle. The moment everything's been leading up to. And also, this is where I'm really going to ask you to listen to something I want you to listen to and hear me out. I mentioned already that the character Izah is named after a post-metal band, Izah, that released my favorite album of 2015 (and still one of my favorite post-metal albums), Sistere. They're from the Netherlands so that's not a typo, I think. Anyways, the title track from that album is 31 minutes long but it's honestly the best 25 minutes of music I've ever heard (followed by a long 6 minute ambient outro that you can turn off once you've gotten what you wanted out of it). But still, that title track is so powerful to me and perfectly delivered through long buildups, sections that increase the tension more and more, an incredible use of a sound collage in the middle, and an incredibly cathartic payoff. The story in Times of Grace wasn't made because of the song but the song, the feelings I get from it, and then the band name worked so well as elements I wanted to use or reference in this story. So here we are, a long and intense final battle to reflect the massive ride that Sistere by Izah takes you through - the song and the album on a whole. So, please, if you like metal with harsh vocals at all, please go listen to that track, and then listen to that album if you liked the track - you've already heard about half of it by that point!

And also, since this is such a long chapter, I've included line breaks even in moments where the scenes don't necessarily switch. It's more like checkpoints, in case you get some way down and then have to pause and come back later.

* * *

 **Chapter 19 - Sister**

* * *

"And this…this is what we cannot let her have."

Captain Eratarka held a small capsule with a bunch of white pills inside. They were Izah's pills – the same ones she left behind in her last visit to the Nemelendelle Bureau HQ.

Eratarka was standing in a small evidence room, speaking to Bathory, Negati, Asana, and Vaele. Alongside all the walls of the room were counters with drawers and cupboards and cabinets hanging on the wall above the counters. Eratarka opened one of the many drawers, placed the container in, and locked the drawer. Then, escorting everyone out of the room, she locked the door behind them as well.

"Izah doesn't know the layout, but that doesn't matter if she can brute force herself through our defenses," Eratarka continued. "It would only be a matter of time. So I'm hoping that somewhere along the way, someone can talk her down or she is weak enough to be defeated. I know we're all hoping that."

The other four nodded. Eratarka sighed and continued.

"So, there's nothing more left than to take positions and wait. I'll be supervising the efforts, but I'm sorry that I can't be there at the front with all of you. I...more preferred the administrative side of the TSAB for a reason."

Bathory laughed slightly and smiled.

"And we're sorry for making your first few weeks on this planet such a headache."

"Bring Izah in safe, and this'll all just be a great story to tell eventually" replied the Captain. "Alright, get set up and I'll keep the teams coordinated."

The others nodded and split into two groups that went their separate ways to each of their designated teams. Bathory and Negati, with their double-A power levels, went to the main entrance doors to guard the most likely entry point. Asana and Vaele were headed to one of the side entrances that mainly provided a fire escape but could still allow access. On the way, Vaele looked down at the standby form of the device he'd been given. Several unpleasant thoughts went through his head, all involving having to confront his sister with the use of force.

Asana noticed this and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking, Vaele. I'm sorry we have to do this. But if we do our job now, then tomorrow…tomorrow this can all be over."

"Yeah…" muttered the boy. "Just a bad dream…and we can move on…"

The two reached the door and met with the other mages guarding this part of the facility. They were other younger mages from the group Vaele had been training with. As Asana greeted the others she had not met yet, Vaele shut his eyes and transformed into his barrier jacket. The dark blue coat fluttered at the ends from the energy given off, but soon Vaele was standing in a hesitant silence with the others, gripping the generic pistol device that had also transformed into its active mode. He opened his eyes and noticed the leader of their group along with Asana was speaking to Captain Eratarka over a holographic screen. Asana was carrying this end of the conversation, and after some back and forth, Eratarka seemed satisfied and ended the transmission.

In the silence that followed, Vaele lowered his weapon and looked down, away from the other Bureau mages. Those worrying thoughts formed again, and a sense of unease spread though his body chilling him to the bone.

And then, suddenly, there was a voice.

 _"Vaele…"_

Vaele's eyes shot open and he looked up. He glanced around at the rest of the group to see if anyone had called to him. None of them had, and none of them noticed the boy's actions. Just as he was about to question his own sanity, there was the voice, spoken directly into his head.

 _"Vaele…are you there?"_

The second time, the boy was paying attention, and he froze from the realization that the voice was his sister's. Tepidly, he replied back, though where she was he didn't know.

 _"Izah? Is that you?"_

 _"Yes, yes it is. Where are you Vaele?"_

Izah sounded so fragile. The volume was a soft as a whisper, but there was an edge of pained projection that made it sound like Izah could barely get anything out. Vaele suddenly felt the need to comfort her, and hoped that perhaps she was closer than he thought.

 _"I'm inside. Where are you?"_

 _"Outside. Please, Vaele, I need to see you."_

The boy rapidly looked between the other mages once again.

 _"I…Izah, if you promise to talk to us…then…then I can…"_

 _"No. I need you. I need to see you."_

Vaele now looked between the other mages and the door they were guarding. Izah was on the other side somewhere, and she was crying out to see him. Maybe this was a last-ditch effort from her sanity before she did attack the base. Maybe if Vaele could support her, she could find the strength to give herself up. Maybe none of Vaele's worst fears needed to happen. With a sudden overbearing feeling that he needed to act, Vaele ran forward through his teammates to the door. There were several stunned gasps and Asana reached out her hand towards him.

"Vaele!" she cried. "What are you-"

"I'll just be a minute!" he shouted rapidly. "Don't follow me!"

Vaele burst through the heavy doors, stumbling but catching himself again. He continued running away from the building as the doors shut behind him. There was the sidewalk, then paved lot, then flat grass as Vaele got away from the building, almost to the treeline of the area next to the planet's Bureau HQ. Finally, he stopped running and he spun around, calling out to his sister.

"Izah? Izah, I'm here! Where are you?"

From the trees, a figure stepped forward, and she spoke out loud this time to get the boy's attention.

"Here I am."

Vaele paused and turned to face the voice. It was dark out, but he could just make out Izah's silhouette in the darkness.

"Izah?" he asked. Then, relieved, he said "Izah!" again and ran to her. She meekly held her arms out and embraced her brother in a hug when they met. Next to Vaele's passionate embrace, hers was light and easily broken, almost distracted in a way. After this, Vaele looked up and saw his sister's face for the first time in days.

"Izah…" he said, "are you okay?"

The older air mage frowned and shook her head. Her longer light-orange hair lightly swayed behind her.

"No, I'm not. Everything hurts. I feel like I'm on fire. I can't even describe it."

"I know. I remember, you'd hurt so much until you took another pill. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you after our trip to the Bureau. I missed you."

Vaele deactivated his device and then deactivated his barrier jacket as well before placing the gem in his pocket. Izah looked down through her heavy gaze.

"Then will you help me get rid of this feeling again? I won't hurt anyone else if I can just get my pills again."

Vaele sighed and shook his head.

"We don't need to do this. The bureau can help you. I know they can."

"More empty words…the same that Asana was speaking…"

"But it's true! Please, Izah, just listen to me. I'm not lying. Why would I lie to you?"

There was silence. It fell heavy on both of them as Vaele waited for a response. Finally, Izah fidgeted her right hand, where she held her device in its active form. The blue pistol rested there, with bold green magic flowing through the outline of the device as Izah kept it ready for use.

"So, you won't help me?" she asked.

Vaele gulped, growing nervous.

"N…not in the way you want me to."

Slowly, Izah smirked and stared at her brother with malicious intent.

"Oh, I think you still have a purpose…"

Suddenly, she lunged for him with her other arm. Vaele cried out and tried to jump back, but he was too slow and Izah got a grip on him. She grabbed his arm with her own and pulled him closer, turning him around. He fell back into her and Izah used her free hand to cover Vaele's mouth, pinning him against her and muffling his cries to anyone that could hear. As Vaele brought his hands up to push Izah's away and struggled helplessly in her grip, she quickly pushed the barrel of Greater Call into his chest and fired.

* * *

Negati and Bathory stood in the main lobby of the building, hesitantly waiting. Both were in their barrier jackets. Bathory had activated Aphelion and held his right arm down by his side, loading several cartridges into the device. Next to him, Negati shifted back and forth, clenching her fists as the red lines of magic up her arms softly faded in and out. When Bathory finished up, a cover over the cartridge slot slammed shut again and the inner workings of the device went about priming the cartridges for use.

Negati crossed her arms.

"I never liked this part."

"The waiting?" asked Bathory.

"Right. If something needs to be done, let's just get to it. Though, you know me, that's expected."

"I know how you feel. I should be like that too, but...I'm slowly starting to realize that I'm dreading this."

Negati looked over.

"Hmm?"

"Before all of this...and I'm going all the way back to fighting for Siba here...it was best to just get to work. Even in a case like this, when someone just doesn't know what they're doing, it was easier to battle them, bring them in, and figure everything out later. If they needed to be captured, we did so, and if not, you let them go. But now, with Izah, I'm still hoping we can talk her down."

Negati clenched her fists again and the magic lines formed in stronger than before.

"Izah nearly killed you without even realizing it, and she cast Asana away without hesitation. Something tells me she's not backing down now."

"Probably so," said Bathory, nodding. "Still, I'm not looking forward to it. Heh, maybe I'm just getting soft."

Negati opened her hands and the markings faded away again.

"Oh?" she asked. "Soft?"

Bathory giggled.

"Maybe."

Negati smiled.

"Alright. After this is over, I'll sign you up for bear wrestling classes," she teased.

Bathory looked over rapidly.

"Wh - bear wrestling?"

"Yep. You need to get tough and macho again, right?"

Bathory nervously looked away and gave an exasperated sigh.

"I...yeah...how about you do that, and I'll cheer you on from the sidelines."

Negati grinned even wider and pounded her fists together.

"I might just have half a chance," she said.

"Better than my odds."

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble from a different part of the complex. It sounded like something had exploded, and the ground shook for a moment. Both mages' attention was drawn back down the halls of the building, but there was nothing after that. The two waited there, unsure what to say. A screen appeared in front of them as Eratarka broadcasted to all the defensive parties.

"What happened?" she asked. "What's going on?"

Her image glitched away as Asana appeared on the screen for everyone, yelling into it.

"It's Izah! She's here!"

Asana moved away to show the scene behind her. Through the chaos and the smoke, Izah walked through it, pushing Vaele along who was still held tightly against her. Greater Call glowed from the attack it had just released.

Negati gritted her teeth.

"Izah..."

"Come on," said Bathory, "We need to get over there. Aphelion, Flight Driver!"

A thin blade of dark-green energy appeared from the opening that stretched up the right side of the device on Bathory's arm. Negati held her arm out and Bathory grabbed it as he ran forward. With Negati keeping up, Bathory dug the green blade into the wall, where it caught in the material and then shot both of them forward along the wall rapidly. Negati shifted up to grab around Bathory's body, and they were carried by the device along the walls of the hallways over to where Asana and Vaele were stationed to defend. When they got there, Bathory disengaged Aphelion and both mages fell to their feet, sliding along the floor until they came back to a stop. It was already a chaotic scene there - Asana and the other Bureau mages stood facing Izah, who was just inside the rubble left from where she blew open a hole in the wall. There was still smoke pouring up and severed wires in the wall sparking behind her. And she stood there, one arm holding Vaele tightly against her as the boy weakly struggled, and the other holding Greater Call against the boy's side.

When Bathory and Negati had gotten settled in place, and as Bathory aimed Aphelion at Izah, she laughed softly to herself and addressed the group.

"So, it's finally come to this..."

Her hair had become messy over the events of the last few days. Her eyes glared forwards, hiding whatever feeling was driving her to do this. She looked extremely unwell.

Bathory glanced at the two - Izah and her captive.

"Izah, that's your brother you're holding. You don't want him to get hurt, do you?"

Vaele pulled on her arm again and held back his fear.

"Please, Izah," he said, "let me go."

The air mage stood there, keeping Vaele against herself tightly but also not immediately responding. Her hand holding Greater Call trembled slightly.

"If...if you just give me what I'm here for..." she stumbled, "then no one needs to get hurt."

Bathory and Negati glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Without speaking, they knew they were on the same page. Izah wasn't walking out of here that easily. If she was able to escape with her pills, this might be the last time anyone saw her. Bathory looked back at Izah.

"I don't think we can do that. Aphelion, Flight Driver!"

Suddenly he ran forward, and as the green blade of energy came out he dug it into the floor, launching forwards towards the surprised air mage. After getting some speed, Bathory launched off the ground, flipping back around and aiming his device at Izah. As he'd hoped, she instinctively twisted to put herself in front of Vaele, summoning an orange barrier. Bathory crashed into the barrier, firing several shots into it, and then dropped to the ground. He quickly grabbed onto Vaele and pushed Izah back, breaking her grip on her brother. Then, just as quickly as he went forward, he turned around and dug the blade back into the ground, carrying himself and Vaele back to the safety of the TSAB.

After disengaging and sliding to a stop, he put Vaele behind himself and addressed Izah again.

"Izah, you still care about him. I know you still care about yourself. We don't have to go any further."

The older mage stared out at the forces standing in front of her. She narrowed her eyes and began to grin.

"The pain and the need...they kept me back," she said. "They kept me from my potential, how I used to be. But you were right. I still have it in me, buried within. And now...I need to make my grand return."

She swung her arm out dramatically and shouted at the group in front of her.

"You'll see who I am once again! You all will see what I can really do. Izah, the most powerful mage on Amber, no longer a shadow anymore!"

She brought her arms in and her body began to glow. She was finally transforming into her barrier jacket. The powerful glow blasted light around the room, forcing the others to look away or hold their arms in front of their eyes. There was a deep power resonating from Izah as well - her true power that had been subdued while she recovered and fell into her addiction. Bathory and Negati hadn't seen this much from Izah; even Asana had never known her at her full strength.

Finally, the glow began to recede as Izah has transformed. Everyone looked in and saw Izah once again. Now, she hovered just above the ground where a light orange Midchildian magic circle had formed, her legs straight and together bur her arms held partly out to the side. Her barrier jacket was a mixture of white and light orange to match her hair. The pattern on the chest matched how Vaele's was, however then a mid-length skirt rested above white hose-covered legs. Her shoes matched the outfit's scheme.

Her head was tilted forward and her eyes were shut. Her hair, which had been tattered and messy in her civilian form, was now again perfect and fluttered from the wind kicked up by the transformation. No longer did she have baggy eyes or other signs of the obvious wear on her body. As she gracefully hovered back to the ground and the magic circle faded away, she looked up again. Her eyes were crystal and perfect, burning her gaze into the Bureau forces. She spoke, more direct than before.

"My entire life, I have gotten what I wanted. You will not stop me."

Negati was fully ready to battle. The marking on her arms glowed brightly with the magic coursing through her.

"Until you made assumptions," the redhead retorted. "You got here in the first place because you got careless. You were careless, and then you got hurt."

"And look at me now!" Izah cried. "I'm here again! None of you are as powerful as me. None of you will bring me down."

Asana stood next to the others. She began to channel her new power provided by her new master.

"Alone? No, but together, we are strong. We won't stop until we've done everything we can. I'll fight until the very end, Miss Izah! I mean it when I say I'm going to help. And you can't cut me off anymore."

Izah looked at her former familiar and began spinning Greater Call in her hand around the trigger guard. The device began to glow.

"Don't think I didn't notice your presence, Asana. I see that someone thought you deserved life again. No matter. I don't apologize. You were worthless to me the moment you left my side."

With that, Izah aimed her device and fired at Asana. The foxgirl stood her ground and summoned a barrier, now a Belkan triangle rather than the Midchildan circle. The shot slammed into the barrier and kicked up a burst of energy that covered the immediate area with smoke again. Asana stood her ground and the barrier went down, but as the smoke cleared, Izah was now rushing forward through the air, baring her teeth. Greater Call was aimed forward and fired again.

Asana put up another barrier, though she still felt the force from the attack and it staggered her back. Izah was now on the group, leading a relentless assault on the Bureau mages. She had perfect control, firing on a target and then quickly dodging an attack or blocking it with her own barrier before resuming her offense. None of Bathory's shots made it through, and none of Negati or Asana's strikes left an impact. Izah simply pushed them away before aiming again at one of the weaker Bureau mages. Quickly, she had most of them down on the floor and had Bathory, Negati, and Asana scattered to the sides. Without hesitation, she broke off her attacks and charged further into the facility, avoiding the lingering shots Bathory was able to make on her as she flew out. Soon, she was around a corner.

Bathory and Negati reconvened, checking the sights around them. Most of the weaker bureau mages - those who weren't in the single or double A rankings - seemed down for good. The focused assault of a AAA-rank mage left them incapacitated. Even those left standing had already expelled a good effort in keeping up.

"We need to keep going!" said Asana. "We can't let that stop us."

"Izah's going blind" said Negati. "She'll fight until she finds her pills, but that could be a while. We can at least try and wear her down before she gets there."

Bathory and Asana nodded, but as the three of them were about to go after Izah, Bathory realized there was someone who wasn't previously in the fight.

"Vaele," he said sharply and turned his head to look at the boy, who'd backed off to the side. The boy rapidly looked at Bathory and the two made eye contact. Bathory noticed Vaele hadn't even gotten into his barrier jacket.

"You have two options," said Bathory. "You can fight with us, or you can stay out of the way. No sense becoming a liability."

"I...I can't fight back against that!" cried the boy. "I never could! Izah knows that."

Bathory made himself calm down. He looked back at Asana and Negati before again turning to face the boy.

"I just don't want you getting hurt in the crossfire. If she's this dead set on getting those pills, then I don't think we can be sentimental any more. She won't come around if you or Asana tell her to. Stay out of the fight and don't do anything unnecessary."

Hesitantly, Vaele nodded and the other three ran off to catch up with Izah. Though, after a short pause, Vaele followed along.

* * *

The halls were scattered with random damage as a moving scuffle seemed to have taken place. A stray shot singed part of the wall in one area, broken glass from a random door or window was dropped to the floor somewhere, and even a couple ceiling lights were completely shattered, casting dark patches in the hall. Negati, Asana, and Bathory were drawing closer to the sounds of battle, and soon they stumbled onto the sight of Izah battling another group of Bureau mages. She'd beaten most of them, and now she was locked in a struggle against a woman wielding a Belkan spear device who had the blade up against Izah's barrier, pushing with all her might against it. Izah struggled back, trying to get the other mage away from the barrier. She heard the sound of feet running up to the scene so she focused in and pushed harder, sending the other mage off balance before another shot from Greater Call sent the other mage against the opposite wall. Izah slowly turned to face the others as they came to a stop.

"Izah, give up!" yelled Negati.

The air mage narrowed her eyes.

"You tell me that when I am obviously winning?"

"Think your plan through," said Bathory. "So what if you defeat us today? You're not hiding any secrets now. Everyone knows what you are struggling with. So every single day, we'll be out trying to bring you back. What will you do then?"

The orange-haired woman looked down and lowered her voice.

"This is a big planet. I'll find a place to go. And if I need to leave, I know I'll be able to."

Asana stepped forward.

"So you'll give up on Vaele? Give up on your family? Give up on all of us?"

"Shut up..." muttered Izah.

"I get it," said Bathory. "Trusting us is scary. But you know what's scarier? Being alone."

"SHUT UP!"

Izah fired at the group and Negati jumped in front. She held her arm out.

"Counter-Reaction!"

A big red barrier formed in front of the group and the projectile slammed into it. The force still pounded through Negati's body and she was tossed back off her feet. Bathory caught her before she fell.

"Negati!" he yelled. "Are you okay?"

The redhead's eyes were shut tightly. She grimaced from the pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes, checking to see that the barrier was still there. The red wall was heavily cracked, and the cracks glowed with the energy absorbed from Izah's attack. The ground mage smirked, and as she got to her feet, the glowing cracks all seemed to move inwards toward the center of the wall. They gathered, forming a bright red ball of energy in the surface. And with a grin, Negati thrust her arm out again.

"Return!"

The barrier shattered, sending the ball of energy back at Izah. The air mage looked shocked and she put her own barrier up. The blast crashed into the orange barrier, cracking it and kicking up another small explosion that sent out smoke and pushed Izah off her feet. Then, Negati and Asana looked at each other.

"Now's our chance!" cried the redhead. "Let's go."

The two rushed in towards Izah while Bathory hung back.

"Aphelion, get me a charged multi-shot."

[UNDERSTOOD, MASTER] said the device.

Izah got to her feet at Negati and Asana closed in. Negati would up with a powerful punch that was directed into Izah's side. Izah staggered again, and Asana was there too. She raised her arm, forming her fingers into a claw shape. Now with Arin's Belkan magic, she summoned several small grey blades that mimicked her fingers, and swiped at Izah. The blades tore into her barrier jacket, cutting the outside layer and revealing the undershirt below it. Izah recovered and checked the scene in front of her. She needed to get away from the immediate threat - the two hand-to-hand mages.

Over with Bathory, his device pulsed and began speaking again.

[MULTI-SHOT READY FOR ACTIVATION]

"Good. Once we get an opening, we-"

Suddenly, Izah raced forward, pushing Negati and Asana to the sides. She closed in on Bathory before he expected her to.

"Ahh, Fire!"

Aphelion released the energy, but not before Izah had already got there and knocked Bathory to the side as well. His arm flailed about and the shot flew up into the ceiling, breaking another overhead light. She stopped before she got to the end of the hall and looked back at the group. Asana and Negati ran to catch up with Bathory following along.

"Where are you going, Izah? What do you think you're doing?" asked Negati.

Izah hovered in the air, staring back at the others. Then, she grinned wickedly and opened her hand.

"Bombing Run," she said.

Bathory and Negati looked at each other in confusion. Then, they heard Asana gasp, and the familiar was looking down at the ground. They both did so as well, and noticed that several orange Midchildan circles were fading in along the length of the hall Izah had just flown down. As the circles glowed even brighter and a low rumbling noise began to get louder, they both remembered back to their first meeting with Izah where she flew for a bit and showed some of her various attacks. Then, they both suddenly remembered this one.

Negati looked rapidly up at their opponent.

"Izah, no!"

As the magic circles formed as brightly as they were going to, Izah closed her fist and the circles exploded with powerful blasts of energy. The image of her attackers was temporarily gone as the entire hallway exploded with magical energy. Heavy clouds of smoke were kicked out and the building rumbled from the energy released. One after another exploded down the path Izah traveled, overwhelming the mages caught in its path. The explosions were near-deafening, and then after that, immediately, there was silence.

* * *

When the attack ended, after the smoke cleared, Negati, Asana, and Bathory were all sprawled out on the ground. Their barrier jackets were singed with the energy they had been struck with. Any barriers the three could put up had been shattered. They were still awake, and not yet out of the fight, but there was little they could do at the moment.

Negati groaned and reached out, trying to pull herself up. Izah lowered back to the floor and walked over to the struggling mage. Negati had just gotten ready to push herself up when Izah stomped down on the hand, making Negati cry out. Above her, the air mage smirked viciously.

"And you really thought you could do anything, hmm?"

Bathory looked over, still dealing with his own attempt to get to his feet.

"Izah, what are you trying to prove?"

"That you are all no different from the weaklings I dealt with before my injury. I ruled things back on Amber. I got my way, no matter what. This is the real me. Not that pathetic, lowly person you thought I'd become. I will get what I want and you will not stop me."

Bathory continued to glare at her.

"And as soon as you get your pills again, you'll go right back to that. You're making all of this effort so that you'll be enslaved to them once again. Tell me, is that familiar effect really enough to prefer sending yourself even further down that road, rather than actually recovering?"

Izah stared at Bathory and finally removed her foot from Negati's hand to walk over to him. She assisted his attempts to get up by grabbing him by the throat and and pinning him against the wall. She didn't squeeze hard enough to cut off his air, but it wasn't pleasurable.

"You…" muttered Izah, "serve no purpose. You lost."

Bathory shook his head.

"We're not done yet…"

He went to raise Aphelion, but Izah just smacked it out of the way and another shot from the device scattered harmlessly away. The air mage held Greater Call up and aimed it right between Bathory's eyes. Her demeanor was far more aggressive.

"This is the best your Bureau can do? Who else can even try and stop me?"

Then, there were the faint sounds of someone running down the tiled hallway. Behind Izah, Asana was getting herself to her feet. The fox familiar's ears twitched.

"I hear someone approaching."

Bathory turned to face the new arrival, who was bearing down quickly on their attacker. He smiled.

"Ahh, Arin's awake."

Izah turned to see Arin wielding another Belkan spear device, winding it back and ready to strike. The air mage quickly released Bathory and went to aim her device at the man. Arin swung down, catching Izah on the side and tearing into her barrier jacket again. She tried to move behind him, but Arin quickly spun the spear around and struck backwards, catching Izah again and now tearing into the skin. Izah gasped and brought her hand up to the wound.

Negati got up as well and the group gathered around Arin.

"I knew it was you," said Asana. "I could feel it."

"Glad to have you back," said Negati.

The emotionless man stared forward at his target.

"I heard the sounds of destruction from the battle, and I knew I was needed."

He gripped the spear tightly.

"This device will be similar enough to my own for me to be proficient in using it. You do not have to fear that."

Bathory slowly looked over at his teammate.

"But you're good to actually fight in the first place, right?"

"I do not feel that I am fully recovered, and I still do not know how much of that is requiring more time or how much power I have now allocated towards supporting Asana. However, I believe I am capable enough to assist currently in the ongoing battle."

"Okay!" yelled Negati. "No screwing around. There's four of us now, and we're all still in the fight."

Arin nodded. He looked over at Asana.

"I look forward to seeing what we can do together."

His new familiar nodded and her ears pressed back again with determination.

"I won't let you down!"

"Is this what you wanted, Izah?" asked Bathory. Did you think it would come this far?"

The air mage released her hand and looked down. Blood was forming in the cut Arin had made. It was a light scratch and wasn't too deep, though. But she was angry now, too angry to respond to that with any more than another attack from her device. She shot another blast at the group, and now Arin put up a barrier to defend them. More refreshed than the others, he kept his ground, and there were four active mages ready to fight back now.

Izah started looking nervous. Her eyes darted between the four in front of her. Before any of them moved on her, Izah quickly raced backwards, gaining flight and shooting away from the group. Bathory reached out with a binding spell, but Izah shattered it before it took hold and she was gone down the halls.

"She's running now," said Negati. "She can't fight much longer."

"But where is she going?" said Asana. "Miss Izah does not know her way."

"It is a blind search to find what she is here for," said Arin. "We cannot let her find it."

Negati nodded and quickly got out her storage device.

"Captain Eratarka, do you hear us?" she asked. A screen appeared in front of the group with the Captain on the other end.

"I hear you. What's going on?"

"Izah's running. She's trying desperately to get what she needs. Can you track her position in the building?"

Eratarka nodded and began typing on a keyboard that was below her screen.

"I can do that. I'll send it to your devices. But you need to hurry - if she happens to find it…"

"We won't let that happen. Thank you, Captain."

The screen faded out and Negati addressed the others.

"If we can cut her off, that's our best shot."

Bathory held his device out.

"One more thing - I think this needs to be done. We don't have many more changes to stop her. I need to do as much as I can. Aphelion - Breach Form!"

[TRANSFORMING]

The device began to glow around Bathory's lower arm and extend outwards and downwards, building mass in the shape of a thick cannon. Bathory's right arm now supported the top of the weapon attached with several straps, and there was a handle further down the new device that he grabbed as support.

"Hopefully we can stop Izah. A few good hits is all it should take to get a binding spell on her. Let's go."

Izah darted through the empty halls, led on more by adrenaline than common sense. She knew about evidence rooms, but she had no idea where it would be. Was it hidden at the very center of this base? If so, where was the center? Was it in maybe in a basement? Then if so, where's the entrance? The thoughts ran through her panicked head as she flew down the halls too fast to even get her bearings. Her body was starting to feel it, though. She'd put if off by transforming and getting in combat, but now her body was screaming for a pill to numb its pain once again. She tried to push it down deep again, but it wouldn't budge. She focused on it, more and more, pushing and pushing as hard as she could…

"Found her!" cried Asana.

Izah looked up. She was barrelling towards the foxgirl, who was primed and ready for another attack. The air mage tried to reverse her course, but it was too late, and Asana attacked with another swipe that ripped more holes in Izah's jacket and got her out of the air. She went to retaliate when she heard more footsteps behind her at the last moment and dodged another thrust of the energy blade on Arin's device. Now on both sides of her, Arin and Asana attacked in an instinctively coordinated manner, keeping Izah either dodging away or attacking unsuccessfully. If Izah pushed one away, the other would send her back to the other and get them in the fight. Finally, after a couple moments, the three of them heard Bathory's voice calling out from down one of the halls.

"Ready!"

Arin and Asana both moved in, grabbing one of Izah's arms and pulling it out taught. She gasped and looked forward to see Bathory and Negati facing her. Bathory's device was now a larger cannon the required two hands to support, and the barrel of it was glowing bright with green energy. Bathory fired, and the shot flew directly into Izah's stomach, launching her back and down to the floor.

Now Izah was the one slowly getting to her feet. She used the wall for support, and when she was nearly up, Asana addressed her.

" How much more of this is necessary, Miss Izah? When will this end?"

Izah glared at the four. They were all together again. Not around her in all directions - now in one place. She smirked again.

"And what more do you want from me? Some sort of apology? Well, I promise that forgiveness is the most you'll get."

"Izah, what are you talking about?" asked Bathory.

The air mage shut her eyes. She looked within her once again. Next to the pain that was still coming on was still so much mana she could use in this battle. She had so much more to give, and there was so much more to her than any of the others had seen. She gave them a sample of her attacks when they visited her home, but she had never shown off her strongest attack.

She opened one eye and teased the four in front of her.

"I meant it when I said that you don't know me. Watch out, because I'm about to teach you something."

She opened both eyes and held her arms out again. An orange Midchildan circle formed behind her, and the air began to feel thick. Izah lifted off the ground, hovering just above it like when she first went into her barrier jacket, and the entire hall began to rumble. More magic circles began to form around the area. The other four looked around, worrying more and more.

"I...Izah?" asked Negati. "What is this?"

The rumbling got more powerful, and a bright aura began to encase Izah. The dust and debris that had been kicked up from the fight began to levitate, and then there was an incredibly loud screech as all the walls and ceiling were ripped open about halfway up and the tops of them levitated further up as well. Out around the group of mages, more bright orange circles cast a heavy light on them, forcing them all to squint or cover their eyes. There was a wind blowing around now that threatened to knock the ground mages off their feet. As Izah began levitating higher into the air as well, Negati dug her heels in and cried out to her.

"Izah, what are you doing?"

As things reached their most frenzied state, Izah's eyes shot open. She began to speak her mantra.

"You will not fight any longer. Your day is gone, and your fight is now over."

She aimed Greater Call again, and the magic circles began to glow brightly, brimming with her energy.

"The night has come and erased your light!" she yelled. "And with it, it has brought your end! Finite Horizon!"

With that, she pulled the trigger, and a massive unparalleled wave of energy burst from all the circles, drowning the area below in an onslaught of raw power. In the darkness of the night sky, the kaleidoscopic burst lit up the surrounding area like the sun was still up, forcing anyone around to cover up or look away. The sound was near-deafening, and the wind kicked up from the energy blew Izah's hair and the end of her skirt nearly sideways from its force.

After several seconds of full power, the attack began to recede, and the circles faded away again. The light dimmed, the wind haltered, and Izah was now just hovering above a large swath of rubble. The air mage took deep breaths, gathered herself, and waited for the smoke to clear. She expected only charred rubble and unconscious bodies. Instead, huddled together, there were her four targets, driven either to the floor or to their knees under a grey bubble shield that had deep cracks across its entire surface. It looked like if someone were to even touch it, it would break. But still, it had remained.

Disappointed, Izah lowered back to the ground. The walls were torn off completely and the area around her was just open. The building continued next to that area, but the ends of the now-entrances were now heavily damaged as well with several pieces broken off. It was still tile below her though, and Izah's shoes clanked along them as she walked to the grey shield. Inside it, the four were pressed tightly together, with Arin down on one knee and staring at the ground. He heard Izah's footsteps and he deactivated the barrier. She stopped in front of the group, and immediately Arin coughed up blood onto the tile below him. Izah paused and Asana looked at her new master, worried.

"Oh...oh no, are you alright?"

The taller man exhaled.

"I bit into my cheek without realizing. I will be fine."

Izah stood there staring at the others as they slowly got up and looked around. It was almost like an armistice was taking place after the immense destruction from the attack. The four caught their bearings, taking in the scene around them. Of particular note was their opponent, standing as plain-faced as Arin, only a few feet away.

Hesitantly, Bathory spoke up.

"So…"

But as soon as he spoke, Izah held her arm out and summoned orange bindings that wrapped around the other four and pinned their arms to their sides. Between various ineffective struggles and complaints from her targets, Izah raised her arm which lifted the four into the air. Then, just as weary, Izah raised Greater Call up as well.

"Bending Light," she muttered.

The pistol shot a large projectile that flew up above the other four and then hovered there between them. Rays of orange light shot out from the energy ball into the four bound targets, who all gasped and cried out from the beams. The central ball began to expand, the beams began to glow brighter, and the four all struggled harder and harder before the ball suddenly exploded, catching the four in its range and sending them out towards the ground again. Their bodies rag-dolled along the ground, slamming into whatever rubble blocked their paths and then laying there, unmoving. Izah stood in place, just checking the targets, making sure that after a few seconds there was only the smallest signs of activity from them.

* * *

Away from the others, crouched down and peering out from one of the open hallways, was Vaele. He'd stayed away so far, but the immense destruction let him back to the scene and he was terrified by what he saw. Izah had used Finite Horizon and had caused this much damage, all in the pursuit of the evidence room - which was fairly close by. Vaele had that thought in mind watching his sister hurt the Bureau mages even more. With her state of mind, this might just turn into a murder. If she got to that point, Vaele knew there would be no coming back from that. Izah would be gone, either with her pills into the Nemelendelle landscape or shuttered by the Bureau to a place Vaele would never see her again.

With all of that racing through him, suddenly there were footsteps behind him and a hand placed on his shoulder.

"Don't you worry, kid. I'll do what I can to stop this."

Vaele looked up, and standing there was one of the last people he expected to fight.

"C...Captain?"

Eratarka stood there with a generic Midchildan staff-like device. She looked down at Vaele and nodded.

"It is my duty to act when no one else can. I swear my life to the safety of the Bureau and its citizens."

She released Vaele and ran out into the open space. Her heels clicked on the floor, and Izah looked back out of the corner of her eye. Eratarka stopped behind the air mage and aimed the device forward.

"Izah Lumiere, on behalf of the damage you have cause to our facility and officers, I am ordering you to surrender."

Izah slowly turned around to face the Captain. It was amusing, seeing a grown woman wearing standard dress uniform with all sorts of service pins holding that device like she could do something with it. But, as Izah was growing more tired and more antsy to get her medicine, she found her patience running thin.

"Not worth my time," she muttered, and raised Greater Call.

Eratarka quickly charged a shot and released it, but Izah put up her barrier and the shot petered out without effect. Then, Izah fired, sending her own volley back that smashed through the weak shield Eratarka put up. Izah fired again and it slammed into the other woman, making her gasp and tossing her down.

Behind Izah, the others heard the Captain's arrival and the short struggle that followed. Bathory tried his best to clear the fog from his head, rolling over and looking up at the scene. Him and Negati seemed to be the best off of the group, and both still felt immense resistance when trying to get back in the fight. They were powerless and could only watch as the Captain fell.

Izah slowly walked over to Eratarka. The Captain groaned from the attacks. She had never been very powerful, and she hadn't ever taken fire from anyone of Izah's power. The air mage got there before Eratarka could get away, and the Captain soon found herself with one hand around her neck. The generic device was quickly smashed in two and rendered useless.

Eratarka sputtered, and looked up with her light purple eyes into Izah's fierce gaze.

"Tell me where my pills are," said Izah.

Eratarka forced out a smile.

"I'm rethinking a lot of my life choices right now…" she joked.

Izah frowned, then lifted the other woman's head up and slammed it into the ground.

"This isn't hard! Get me them and I'll leave everyone alone!"

Eratarka groaned.

"See...I was hoping you and I would get along," she said. "You'd come over for a movie, we'd make some popcorn…"

Izah violently slammed the Captain's head into the ground once again.

"I'm not fucking around! You do this or you die!"

Eratarka looked up weakly at Izah. Tears were forming in her eyes. She tried to speak, but nothing left and she gulped, trying to find her voice. Then, Izah's hands went off Eratarka's neck and up to her face.

"Maybe you just need some convincing…" muttered the air mage. She was met with resistance by the Captain as Izah tried getting her hands in place to jam her thumbs into Eratarka's eyes. The Captain did her best efforts to keep Izah away, but Izah got them in place and was just starting to push when she heard another voice call her name.

"Izah, stop!"

Male. Younger. Izah looked up to see her brother running out into the open as well. He held his hand out, and in it was a capsule full of white pills.

"Izah, they're right here. Stop hurting them!"

Vaele's sister released her grip on Eratarka and slowly stood up. Behind her, Bathory had heard Vaele and he tried to reach out while getting back to his feet.

"Vaele…" he muttered, "you idiot…"

Negati's voice rang in his head.

 _"We're losing our chance Bathory. Come on, we have to get up!"_

Izah walked slowly towards her brother. Was this a trick? Was there something more to this? Or was her brother finally doing what she'd hoped he'd do from the beginning?

Izah reached out and took the container of her pills. She put it away and then brought Vaele in for a hug.

"Oh, Vaele…" she whispered, "I knew you'd be there for me."

Vaele shut his eyes, though that didn't stop the tears from breaking through and running down his cheeks.

"This has gone too far, Izah. This needs to stop."

"And it will. I swear. This was all I needed. It's all going to be over. We can put this behind us."

Izah felt confident that she had a moment to relax. She let the silence hang there, but when her brother didn't respond, she spoke up again.

"Vaele, I need your support. Come with me"

"Wh...what?" asked the boy. "What are you saying?"

"You and me both," she whispered. "You're loyal. I know you are. We'll be together to the end."

She disengaged the hug and then stood there, holding her hand out.

"So, what's your decision?"

"Wh...why do you think I…"

"Come on, Vaele. You're only here because the TSAB thought they could stop me. I'll take care of you. You don't have to worry. But I'll give you the option, if you really think I've gone too far. So, grab my hand and we'll go, or tell me now and I'll leave by myself."

Vaele knew what his answer was, but his mind was racing for any possible way to keep Izah here longer. He was out of options though, and he knew it. Then, suddenly, a voice burrowed into his mind.

 _"Vaele, grab the device!"_ said Bathory.

The boy was startled, though he tried to keep that secret from his sister.

 _"Wh - what? Bathory?"_

 _"Grab her device, Vaele! Take it from her. Now!"_

"Vaele," said his sister, "I can't wait any more. What's your decision?"

Vaele thought a second, and then slowly reached out his hand. Izah smiled.

"Good, good. I knew you were - "

And then, Vaele lunged forward at her other hand, grasping for the dark blue device. He tried to pry it from Izah's hand as Izah quickly fought back to push her brother away.

"Vaele, you lying -"

"I need to do this! You can't go!"

They struggled back and forth until Bathory called out to interrupt them.

"Hey!"

They both froze and looked over as Bathory stood with Aphelion's Breach Form facing right at them and Negati standing next to him. Bathory had already primed a shot and fired it at Izah. Instinctively the air mage went to put up her barrier, but it never formed and Izah was blown back by the attack, losing grip on Greater Call. Vaele fell to the ground as well, and Izah was ready to run at him again when she was suddenly frozen in place by several red bindings. She was pinned where she was and glared at the two who had gotten back up. Negati's arm was held out and the red lines of magic glowed brightly while keeping the binds up.

Izah practically screamed with venom.

"Why are you still here? Why are you still fighting?"

Bathory temporarily lowered his arm.

"We knew it would come to this, Izah. We didn't prepare for anything less."

Eratarka had crawled out of the way and went to join the group of Bureau mages. She helped Arin and Asana get to their feet as Bathory continued.

"It takes more than me to do this. It takes everyone. I can't do this on my own. No one can. Aphelion, prepare for dual support."

[UNDERSTOOD]

The top of the large cannon began to rearrange, opening up with another horizontal handle for someone to grab onto. Izah had seen this when she was forced to come to the bureau. As Negati stood next to Bathory and wrapped her hand around the new handle, she knew where this was going and she struggled with all her might.

"Vaele," she roared, "Help me! Asana? Anyone?"

Bathory and Negati looked down at Aphelion.

"Aphelion," said its master. "Load cartridges."

The green gem at the very base of the weapon began to pulse.

[HOW MANY WILL THAT BE, MY MASTER]

Bathory looked forward again.

"As many as we have left."

The cannon began charging up, pulling from its master but also from the secondary mage feeding it and the residual energy still lingering around them. Along with that, four cartridges were loaded in and the shells were spat out next to Bathory. A bold green magic circle formed in front of the weapon.

As the beam deep within the barrel began to glow brighter and brighter, Izah thrashed once again in the bind.

"Vaele, I thought you loved me! Was that a lie too, just like Asana did - no, just like all of you did!"

"This _is_ love" replied Bathory. "They love you. We all do. Love means knowing what's right and sticking to it, even if it hurts you."

"Never fear love, Izah!" yelled Negati. "You've twisted it into this dark intention that's nothing like the truth. We'll show you again what love truly is!"

With that, Aphelion had fully charged. The energy contained within was already almost blinding.

"Ready, Negati?" asked Bathory.

"Ready!" shouted Negati.

Then, they both yelled the next thing in unison.

"Primum Movens Dual Light Array!"

With that, Aphelion released the energy beam. It shot forwards, overwhelming Izah in its path. She was trapped there by the bindings, and as the energy coursed through her body she shut her eyes and screamed.

The attack rumbled above the ground, pushing on and tearing a hole into whatever rest of the building it went through. Bathory and Negati kept the attack going as long as they could, but soon they both felt the energy dwindling and the ended the attack. The last part of the beam shot forwards towards their target, and then after that, there was just a large amount of steam kicked out of the barrel of Aphelion and little else. Everyone stood there frozen again, waiting to see what would happen. Bathory and Negati were still standing, looking out at Izah who was still held up by the red bindings. She was limp in the binds.

Negati let go of the cannon and released her bindings. Izah collapsed to the floor, and then as Bathory tried to take a step, he was soon about to join her. His legs felt like putty - along with the rest of his body - and he simply fell to the floor.

"Bathory!" Negati said and dropped to her knees. She was also fairly weak, but Bathory had used a lot more energy and he was much worse off. Automatically, Aphelion began to glow and revert back to its standby form.

[MY MASTER HAS SEVERELY DEPLETED ENERGY LEVELS - IT IS NOT ADVISED TO CONTINUE FURTHER]

Bathory rolled over to look up at his girlfriend. He was smiling while Negati stared at him, worried and stern.

"You're done, Bathory. You hear that?"

Bathory just nodded his head as well as he could.

"I hear it, Negati, I hear it."

There was too much other emotion to be passionately romantic, so all Negati was up to doing was pulling Bathory into a hug. She knelt there, feeling Bathory try and keep himself up while gasping for breath as well.

Soon, Arin, Asana, and Eratarka stepped forward so they were next to the other two.

"Um…" Asana muttered, "is Miss Izah…"

"I don't know," said the Captain. "Let's find out."

The three walked forward while Negati shifted Bathory around to carry him on her back. She got up and carried him to the rest of the group.

Vaele was still on the ground over to the side. He looked at the other group, then over at his sister, and then down to the dark blue pistol in his hand. Greater Call was still active, and had not yet gone into its standby form, which meant…

"Greater Call," said the boy, "is Izah…"

The device quickly began to pulse.

[SHE IS STILL SHOWING SIGNS OF ACTIVITY]

Suddenly, Izah began to lift up into the air. The others stopped, watching her still limp body rise up and float.

Asana gazed, wide-eyed, at the sight.

"M...Miss Izah!"

Izah slowly looked up, but otherwise she remained unmoving. Evidently, using her magic was easier than using her body.

"Then there is nothing for me anymore…" she mumbled.

She slowly began to levitate further into the air. None of the other mages seemed able to react. Bathory only weakly reached out to her.

"No...after all that…"

"Please, Miss Izah!" cried Asana. She wished desperately she could still fly, but now she was stuck on the ground as the air mage did the one thing she could still do.

Izah looked down through glazed-over eyes. She felt her pocket, where the bag of pills managed to remain through the attack.

"You're right, everyone. I didn't mean what I said. I love you all. Asana, Vaele… I'm sorry this has to be the way things go-"

A dark blue burst of energy rocketed up and slammed into Izah, making her cry out and start to fall. She recovered after losing a foot or two of height just in time to be hit with another one. She shouted in pain again and lost a few more feet before getting stable. She looked over again and so did everyone else to see Vaele aiming up at Izah using her own device. With another rapid mood swing, she screamed at her brother.

"Vaele, you backstabbing liar. What are you doing?"

Vaele stared up at his sister, trying to keep his trembling hands straight. Greater Call began priming one more shot.

"I love you too, Izah," Vaele whispered. "I love you so much."

He fired again, sending another bolt of energy up at the nearly-drained mage. It hit her in the chest and she cried in pain once again, taking whatever fight she still had right out of her. She began to fall again, but her attempts to stabilize herself weren't good enough. Unable to stop it, she was soon plummeting to the ground.

Everyone else realized the same thing at once. They all reached to stop the woman, but it was Asana who moved the quickest.

"Miss Izah, I got you!"

With one more weak attempt to slow her fall, Izah fell down right into the arms of Asana. The familiar kept herself steady and held Izah with both arms out in front of her, resting the woman's body against her own. Now, more demurely, Asana spoke again.

"I got you, Miss Izah. You're safe now."

Vaele got up and went to the others, who were now gathering around Izah and Asana. Captain Eratarka reached into Izah's pocket and took the medicine capsule back from her. The air mage feebly looked up at the Captain - the woman she'd almost maimed in her attacks and also the one who now decided her future. With a light cough, Izah spoke.

"So...you're sure that I won't die?"

The purple-haired woman just sighed.

"All of that was your mind making things up. Nothing in those pills does something our doctors can't do for you. Well, aside from the side effects."

Izah tried to laugh, which just lead to more coughing.

"And...I guess I did some real bad things, so...you won't punish me too hard, right?"

Eratarka paused. She looked around at the rubble from the Bureau HQ and cleared her throat.

"That depends. You ever worked in construction before?"

Izah shut her eyes and let her head roll back. She gave a weak sigh.

"But really, I'm not going to start thinking about that until you're ready to get out of bed" continued the Captain. "Sorry to say it, but you need a good long stay in our medical wing, not only to rest up from tonight but to also get you working towards an actual recovery. Something productive that relieves your pain and helps you heal without going down another dark road."

Izah smiled a genuine smile. She was currently so numb that even the pain and uneasy feelings that drove her to all this destruction were temporarily gone. There were only concepts that floated in her brain and brought temporary happiness to her - Love. Safety. Trust. Recovery. Forgiveness.

She opened her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry, everyone. But thank you so much. Thank you...for everything."


	20. Grace

**Chapter 20 - Grace**

* * *

Izah slowly opened her eyes, but immediately she knew something was wrong.

Her head hung down, but as she raised it again, she realized she wasn't laying in her bed or even standing up. She was floating sideways, facing downward, elevated several meters above the floor. Her arms were pulled out to her sides and her legs were spread out as well. Her vision started off blurry and her hearing was dampened, but as she blinked several times she realized that everything hurt and she was not actually floating.

This was more than the normal dull pain. This was sharp - patches on her skin cried out and her muscles felt like they were being almost serrated, and there was the sensation of being suspended by something. She turned her head as much as she could and finally saw why she felt all of that.

Wires from above came down and burrowed through her flesh, hooking themselves through the inside of her body as if she was in a butcher shop. The sharp wire stabbed and pierced around her body and limbs, keeping her trapped in place and causing a searing pain in her. Her breathing became more rapid, and her eyes darted around as more came into focus. She was in some sort of building - maybe a museum or something like that. Directly below her was an open area where people travelled in all directions, going along their way without anyone looking up to see her. She couldn't focus on any single face as they passed by. They all seemed so featureless, and the ambiance remained just muddled crowd noise without anything to latch on to. Izah tried to call out, but it felt like her throat was also twisted shut and only a hoarse whisper came out.

And then, a group began to gather below her, someone coming in from all directions. It was people she recognized - finally - and they were all faces she knew well. Vaele. Asana. Captain Eratarka and the other Bureau mages who had assisted in capturing her. They gathered below her, all facing each other and beginning a conversation.

Their voices, much like the others, came up muffled and incomprehensible. It was impossible to tell anything from their tone or actions, as they all stood in place, some with their arms crossed, all just continuing a back and forth that jumped perfectly between them. Izah stared down, unsure what to do or even what she could do. She had the feeling that any attempt to move would provide no progress for the amount of pain it would cause.

Then, one of the figures below did something different. Vaele, her brother, slowly looked up at her.

Izah's eyes went wide. She kept her focus on her brother's gaze, watching as Vaele kept his focus but otherwise did nothing. There was no look of horror on his face at her condition - he stayed completely neutral, maybe almost looking sternly at her.

Once again Izah tried to speak.

"V...Vaele…"

Again, it was only whispers, but he had to have read her lips. Desperately, she finally tried to move an arm to reach for him, immediately feeling the burning pain she knew would come with it. Despite the hooks through her body feeling sharper and sharper as she moved, she slowly reached an arm out towards the boy as tears began to form from the effort.

"Vaele...please…"

She begged on the inside for Vaele to do something. Anything more than keep his now-almost-judgemental stare. But then, the others in the group started to disperse again. They turned around and headed away the same direction they came from. Vaele lingered on his sister a second longer, and then he too looked away and began to walk off.

Izah's eyes once again began to plead as she could only watch her brother leave. Her fingers stretched for him as far as they could, but otherwise she could do nothing to stop this.

"Vaele…" she choked out once more, "...Vaele…"

* * *

Izah rapidly opened her eyes. The walls of the dark room in the medical ward quickly formed in. It wasn't her nightmare that she registered first and caused her to sit up - no, it was the feeling of nearly baking alive under the blankets. She sat up quickly, pushing the covers of her hospital bed off and grasping for her white shirt to remove that too. Once that was off, she panted sharply, holding her arms tightly to her body and finally registering what she had just dreamt. She did nothing else for the next few seconds, just staring forward while taking in heavy breaths and releasing them just as fast.

More than just the walls had formed in now. Her eyes had adjusted and now everything else in the room was visible to her - the cabinets and shelves along the opposite wall, the equipment near the bed that was used in the first couple days of her stay, the light from the hallway peeking in under the door in the opposite corner.

Her breathing had slowed, and she shook her head while mumbling to herself.

"I need to get out of this bed already...no...morning...they said I could in the morning…"

It had been several days since the night she had attacked the Bureau, and she had been confined to a hospital bed since then. Up until yesterday, she was too sore and drained from exerting herself so much and being defeated that the thought of moving around never crossed her mind. All she had done was lay there, being treated for her status and the residual condition from the pills she had been taking. Enough numbing agents stopped the withdrawl feeling from taking her over again that she'd been relatively docile the last few days. Along with all that, a limiter had been added onto the bottom of her right leg at some point that locked her linker core up and prevented it from releasing any magic.

But now, she was getting impatient. The morning suddenly seemed so far away. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, wincing at the many strands that had stuck together from the sweat.

"Ugh, I need a shower - a real one. One where I can stand there, and let the water flow down and I can stick my head under it…"

Surely she'd get the privilege of that when the morning came, if the doctors thought she was mobile. She hadn't broken any bones in the battle - she'd just been reduced to running on fumes. But that thought led to another one, one that caused her to start to worry. Once she was up, where would she go? Would she be carted right over to a prison cell and immediately confined again?

With another sigh, she reached over to her device, which was on the table next to her bed. At least she'd been allowed to keep it.

"Greater Call, what's going to happen with me?" she asked. "I don't know what to think."

The standby form of her device just pulsed dimly and responded.

[WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT - I CANNOT SAY ANYTHING WITH CERTAINTY]

Izah just clenched her hand around the gem tightly and muttered to herself again.

"So all I can do is wait, then. Well, I better try and sleep before any of these thoughts keeps me up."

She put Greater Call down and laid back, frowning at the damp sheet under her from where her sweat pooled from her skin into the fabric. She rotated to lay on her side on the edge of the mattress out of the damp area, keeping the blankets at her feet, and shut her eyes until she could drift off again.

* * *

Morning had come, and finally Izah had been given approval to step out of bed. She did so with a slight bit of difficulty, and the assistants lingered and waited as Izah went from leaning onto the bed or a countertop to being upright on her own accord. She was told to wait there and that she'd have visitors shortly, and then she was alone in the room once again. There was little to look at to pass any time; there was no window in this room, so all she had were the plain walls and the woodgrain texture from the cabinets to read. She had been brought clean clothes, though that was only another plain shirt and athletic shorts.

Eventually, though, she heard a knock on the door and the door handle began to turn. The air mage put on a smile and looked over as the door opened.

"Hello, who's-"

She was cut off by a girl with fox ears and a tail shoving the door open.

"Miss Izah!"

Asana ran over and hugged Izah tightly, eliciting a grunt as her former master found the hug perhaps too tight.

"H...Hey, Asana…"

Asana pulled back and stepped back as other people entered the room. Captain Eratarka had come in as well, along with the tall, plain-looking man who was Asana's new master and then Bathory and Negati came in as well. Only Eratarka was in military dress; the others were in civilian clothing. Bathory and Arin had fairly plain shirts, pants, and shoes, while Negati wore a light dress with a floral pattern on it and open-top flats for shoes and Asana wore something that definitely wasn't any of Izah's clothes. It was a long-sleeved shirt with horizontal black and white stripes and then thin black jeans that clung tightly to her legs.

"Wow," said Izah. "I guess you went clothes shopping?"

"Yup!" said the familiar. "I...ehh...can't really borrow clothes from Mister Arin, so we had to get me some more. How does it look?"

She twirled about while Izah just smiled and laughed.

"Good. It looks good on you."

"Well," said Eratarka, "how are you feeling?"

Izah paused to take a breath.

"I'm okay. A little...stiff…"

The air mage threw her arms up and stood on her toes, stretching as much as she could. She felt it through her arms and her back and down to the calves of her legs, almost roaring out while doing so.

"Ooh, big stretch," said Asana.

Izah lowered herself, breathing out and feeling slightly better now.

"Auuuhhh, I need a massage...haven't had one of those in ages. Hey, you all got one of those here at the Bureau?"

Eratarka chuckled.

"I don't believe that's on-site, no."

The door opened again, and a teenage boy stepped through wearing a brown ground forces uniform. It was Vaele.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, I-"

"VAELE!" cried Asana and went over to hug the boy tightly as well. While he was pinned in place, Izah also went over and knelt down in front of her brother.

"Wow, look at you...looking spiffy there."

Asana released him and Vaele just stood there as his sister fidgeted with his uniform. He seemed slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah...I...I got this yesterday, so…"

His sister made sure Vaele's tie was straight and then checked his hair.

"You look good. They should get a good picture of you."

"They already did, Izah. Geez, you're acting like Mom…"

Izah chuckled and then stood back up.

"So...umm...how have all of you been doing?"

"Well, if you ask," said Eratarka, "I've been monumentally busy dealing with things since the incident. You left quite a hole in our building that needs to get fixed as soon as it can."

Izah was cringing and already set to apologize when Eratarka continued.

"And as for these other fine officers, I've been keeping them off of active roles as well. They all needed a few days off to recover themselves."

Izah wasn't cringing now but she lowered her head when speaking to the party.

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't cause too much of a problem."

"Nah, we're fine" said Negati. "Look at us. We're all still standing. None the worse for wear."

Izah nodded and then directly addressed the Captain.

"And...I hope...I hope I didn't hurt you as well."

Eratarka sighed and shrugged.

"I certainly didn't expect to stand in your way, but trust me, everything's fine. Still 20/20 vision - no problems."

Izah smiled again and nodded.

"So…" she slowly let out, "umm...what now?"

She half expected her arms to get pinned back to her sides and be led off to that imaginary cell. But instead, there was just an air of confusion in the room.

"What do you mean by that?" asked the Captain.

"I mean, you all arrested me, right? I'm a criminal now. I...I have to get punished, right?"

Eratarka crossed her arms and responded.

"You will have a trial to determine your exact sentence, if that is what you are talking about. But...normally if people comply with the Bureau and show an active interest in giving back they are placed in a rehabilitation program somewhere...such as the one here, on Nemelendelle. What I'm saying is that you're already on location, Izah. You're already here."

"Oh," muttered the air mage. "So…"

"So you're talking right now to the person who will enforce your sentence. No need to wait on anything - if you're up and able, we can get going. Begin contributing early, and then in court, just own up to everything and show you wish to put it all behind you. That will all reduce whatever sentence the Bureau gives you."

"And then you can go back to your home world sooner!" Asana said. She expected there to be a sudden, fervent agreement from the Lumieres, but both Vaele and Izah just slowly glanced at each other, almost waiting for the other to make a move.

"I...let's think about it later" said Vaele. Izah nervously agreed. Then, she looked at the foxgirl.

"It's going to be interesting living without you, Asana."

The familiar's ear's perked back in confusion.

"But I'm still here, Miss Izah."

"I mean, without us being connected anymore. I'm still thinking about what I did. I'm still regretting how much I made you hurt. But...I can't take that back. Like we just said, I need to own it. I need to move on. Still, I wonder if it's best for you…"

Izah looked up at the man who had not said anything since arriving. Arin looked on, plain-faced.

"Arin, is it? Did you make the right decision? Do you still want her around?"

Arin looked over at his familiar.

"Do not feel that I made a choice that I am not able to justify. Though the circumstances of Asana's transfer were brought upon suddenly, I felt it was in her and my best interests to form a contract between us. The total drain on my power has stabilized and it is far lower than anticipated judging from the first days of our pact. I believe she will make a worthy utility going forward."

Asana slowly looked back at her former master and answered in less utilitarian terms.

"I am very glad to still be alive, Miss Izah. I'm happy that I get to see you all. And I'm excited to do my best for Mister Arin and everyone else!"

Eratarka suddenly acted, spinning to face the others.

"Oh, that reminds me, before I forget, Mister Vesceron can you please hold up your arm?"

Arin raised his arm, showing that the watch-like tracking device was still locked on his wrist. Eratarka looked on with authority, addressing the tall man.

"You always wanted to speak to me regarding the terms of your service, and I continuously told you that after we stabilized Izah, we would comment then. Well, I don't know if you just forgot, or if it didn't bother you anymore, but I definitely notice your attitude has turned for the better."

"Indeed," he responded. "I understand that I must move forwards and not look backwards, and I must act in a way that benefits all of us."

"I feel like you've done what I wanted you to do. I'm not worried at all about what trouble you might get in. So, I think you've fulfilled your service."

Eratarka reached up and placed her finger against the side of the device. It beeped a long, continuous beep and then unlocked itself from Arin's wrist. The Captain took the device and then smiled.

"Congratulations."

There were cheers from Arin's friends and new familiar, and even Eratarka was in a lighter mood until she spun back around to see Izah holding her arm out now, looking defeated.

"W...what are you doing?" Eratarka asked.

Almost dramatically, Izah answered.

"You have freed him, but now I am in your service. Please, constrain me already."

Eratarka blinked several times in confusion.

"But...we already have the limiter…"

Izah looked down at the device locked around her leg right above her foot. It wasn't large, so it wouldn't get in the way of clothing, but it was locked on tight.

"Oh…" she muttered.

Eratarka crossed her arms again.

"And with that, I should get you up to speed. You'll be wearing the limiter throughout your time serving, just in case you get any ideas about uprooting all of this. But I don't think that's gonna be a problem, so it'll just be a nice fashion accessory that gives you back more and more of your magic as you go along. I know you're at zero magic now, but I think I have a plan for how you can get a head start on advancing along…"

The captain walked up and put an arm around Izah's shoulders. Everyone in the room - barring Arin - was curious as to what the Captain was getting at.

"So," she said, "I can get you an empty room in the barracks here for you to stay nearby, but it'll be tight. There's quite a bit of displacement at the moment because of all the repairs. And if we want to get those done soon, we may need some air mages to help out."

Izah went pale and gulped.

"You...you were serious about…"

"Yep. If I reduce that limiter enough to where you can fly, do you think you can help the Bureau out? I'm sure there's tools that need to get up to the roof or something else that's easier for you than us."

Izah's face went hot, and she glanced over at the Captain. This was a question with one heavily implied answer.

"Um...y...yeah, I can do that."

"Good!" said Eratarka. She patted Izah strongly on the shoulder several times. "Then lets get you familiar with the place, huh? I think for the moment, you're under...umm...building arrest"

The sweat started forming on the other woman's brow as she nodded silently. Eratarka released Izah and headed for the door. Everyone filed out of the room, but as the door shut behind them, Eratarka turned towards the others.

"Vaele, you probably have somewhere you need to be, but the rest of you, wait in my office and I'll be back shortly."

Bathory and Negati looked at each other nervously.

"Are we in trouble, Captain?" asked Negati.

"Trouble? No, but if we want the Bureau to be as lenient with Izah as we'd like it to be, we'll need to get some paperwork done and get some statements written down. Grab a snack. This might take a while."

As Eratarka headed off with Izah, the other four adults glanced at each other. Asana's ears drooped down and her brow sagged.

"A while?" she asked. "What exactly does she mean?"

"I don't know," said Negati. "But we're going to find out."

* * *

The day went on, as Bathory and Negati were first held up by any paperwork needed from Eratarka, and then once they finally left, any errands they decided to do since they were in the city anyways, followed by an impromptu dinner since they'd spent so much time out anyways and the hours had gone by. But finally, their car pulled up the driveway to their quiet home and stopped before it. The two got out, trudged over to the steps up to the porch, climbed to that, and then immediately went for the outdoor couch on the porch. They both collapsed onto it, leaning against the back and shutting their eyes, the familiar padded surface seeming like a haven for the two.

Negati took a deep breath and slowly let it all back out.

"Remember that vacation I was talking about?" she asked.

Bathory thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Mmhmm."

"When can we get that started?"

Bathory also took a deep breath.

"Well...let's see…" he answered. "We've gotten Izah up and going. Her brother's also set up now. Arin got a place for him and Asana. So...I think that's everything."

Negati opened her eyes, though her head was still turned upwards towards the overhang on the portch.

"Looking back on everything, all I can say is...wow. That was certainly something."

She laughed quietly and Bathory joined her. He also opened his eyes and he also sat up to look down at his device, hanging from the cord wrapped around his right arm.

"Certainly was. I'm glad Aphelion worked exactly like we hoped it would."

The green gem pulsed as it responded.

[I AM HAPPY THAT I COULD PERFORM TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES FOR MY MASTER]

Bathory closed his hand around Aphelion and Negati also sat up. She thought for a second and looked over at her partner.

"Well, Bathory, you did it."

"I did what?"

"Don't you remember, you told me about how you wanted to save someone, the same way Fate and Nanoha and the others did for you, right?"

Bathory slowly also sat up and stared out at the landscape, remembering what he'd said to Negati earlier.

"Right…"

"And you've done the same thing now for Izah. You stopped her and fixed her direction. She has a second chance now that she might not have gotten."

Bathory kept staring forward, internalizing Negati's words and relating them back to every worry he'd had about paying back the service Midchilda granted him. Like a puzzle piece, the roller coaster of dealing with the Lumieres and how that turned out filled those hopes in perfectly. Slowly, Bathory smiled brightly.

"I did, didn't I?"

Then, he held an arm to the side and pulled Negati in closer.

"But I couldn't have done it without you," he added.

Negati's smile grew brighter as well and she just remained where she was, resting against Bathory's shoulder. But in Bathory's head, there was a thought - one that would previously trip him up completely, but now, somehow, he knew he had to act. He released his arm and stood up.

"Hold on Negati, I'll be right back."

As he went to the front door and stepped through it, he took another deep breath and sighed. With measured steps he went to his and Negati's room, over to his dresser. He opened one of the drawers and reached past whatever clothes were in there, going for a small black box hidden behind everything else. The other day, he had gone alone into the city to run a special errand that Negati couldn't know about. Sure, the two had made some declarations about their relationship before their battle with Izah, but it still seemed like the last step should be a surprise.

Taking another deep breath and peeking inside the box once again before shutting it, Bathory placed it in the pocket of his jacket and turned back around. He went to the front door again and stepped back onto the porch, looking over at his partner again.

"Negati, here…"

He held his hands out and the redhead took them, letting Bathory pull her up to her feet. The two met eyes again and Bathory continued.

"As I was saying, I couldn't have done it without you. I couldn't have done any of it without you."

Negati blushed and smiled again.

"Ah, Bathory…"

"I mean it. Ever since we got here, you've held me by the hand and led me through all the parts I might not have weathered alone. You've pulled so many words and decisions out of me when I've found myself frozen in place. I don't know how you do it, but it's something that only you know how to do. Whether you know how to do it or not, I hope you never forget how, and I hope you're always there for me."

Negati's blush grew brighter and she momentarily averted her eyes.

"Jeez Bathory...what are you trying to soften me up for?"

Bathory released her hands.

"This."

He reached into his pocket and dropped to a knee. He pulled the box out and flicked the top open, revealing the ring inside.

"Negati, wi-"

"YEEEEEESSSS!"

Suddenly Negati dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Bathory tightly. His expression immediately shifted from whatever smooth look he hoped to have to something almost comical. His eyes bulged as Negati squeezed him far too tightly and he found it hard to breathe. He clenched his teeth together to keep from gasping in pain. There was a different thought on his mind as well - one inspired by the script he'd worked so much on perfecting that now seemed ripped in half.

"Ne...Negati…" he groaned.

The redheaded mage just kept Bathory locked in place, shutting her eyes and burying her head against his back.

"What?" she said quickly.

"D...don't you think you're jumping the gun a bit?"

Still feeling the rush of emotion, she pulled back enough to look him in the eyes. She and he had a rapid conversation, rushing through their words and immediately responding.

"What do you mean?"

"I just - don't I get to -"

"Come on Bathory, what is it?"

"Don't I get to ask the question?"

"What question?"

"Will you marry me?"

"YEEEEEEEESSSS!"

Negati cried out and resumed the incredibly strong bear hug around her now-husband. For the second time, Bathory felt the air in his lungs race out and he gasped again. He realized the box was in his hand still and another probably-pointless detail ran through his mind.

"N...Negati...the ring…"

Negati just reached over with her right hand to find Bathory's hand, and both mages blindly worked to get the ring out of the box and around her finger. When they had succeeded, Negati pushed forward, causing Bathory to fall to the deck on his back with Negati on top of him. She rolled off him and laid on her back as well as they locked hands and just panted together on the deck, too excited to speak. Finally, after a moment, Bathory spoke up.

"You know, Negati...there's a couch and chairs next to us...with cushions…"

Negati rolled onto her side and rested her head against him.

"Doesn't matter."

"Yeah. So...what now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's next? What's going to happen?"

"We gotta make it official, and probably let everyone know…"

"But i mean, what about us? Does anything change? Or do we just...go to bed and wake up in the morning?"

Negati giggled.

"Bathory, what are you doing?"

The man in question just shook his head.

"I guess I'm just rambling...doing that until I finally realize what really just happened…"

Negati sighed.

"Anyways, remember that vacation I was talking about?"

Bathory also sighed.

"I guess it just became our honeymoon," he added.

At this, Negati started to laugh again, first lightly but then it grew in intensity as the butterflies filled her stomach again. Her laughter led to Bathory laughing, and he turned on his side and interlocked their fingers together again. Both mages shut their eyes tightly and focused hard on not getting too out of control. When the laughter started to die down again, they opened their eyes and looked at each other.

There was a light gust of wind that blew down the street, swaying the tree branches and conjuring up the rustling of leaves. Late in the afternoon, the sun was almost setting and the temperature was perfect to remain outdoors, in place, holding tightly together and just hearing the show nature provided. After a bit of silence, Negati quietly called out.

"Bathory?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And there was silence again after that.

* * *

 _We know that it's only human_  
 _We know that it's only love_  
 _We know that its far too close to home_  
 _To see it now_

 _Love all we can before_  
 _We learn all we came for_  
 _Learn all we can before_  
 _The road leads to home_

 _GRACE!_

Devin Townsend Project - _Grace_


	21. True North

**Chapter 21 - True North**

* * *

Bathory and Negati were standing in the Nemelendelle Courthouse. Behind them were the mostly-empty benches of the main courtroom, with a few key people waiting nearby. In front of them was an older woman sitting behind the bench, looking down and checking several pieces of paperwork. It was the marriage certificate for the two people in front of her.

This was all the wedding ceremonies that the two had planned, and so while neither was dressed in a full tuxedo or white gown, they had still dressed in the spirit of things. Negati had a simple white dress that went down below her knees and nice white open-top shoes with a slight heel. Bathory wore dark pants, dark shoes, and a button-up dress shirt with a tie on and a vest over that. Their hands were interlocked tightly together as they waited for the older woman.

Soon, she had signed off on the last part and handed the folded certificate back to the two.

"And with that, I'm making this union official," she said. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Kardenis."

Bathory took the certificate and put it in his pocket. Then, he and Negati turned towards each other. Their smiles and the warm blush on their faces was matched from one to the other.

"We did it," said Negati.

They both leaned in for a kiss and their hands traveled around each others' backs in a tight embrace. At the same time, there were cheers from the small group that came with them - Arin and Asana, as well as the Lumieres and Captain Eratarka. Rather, Arin did not contribute any vocalizations himself, though that was made up by Asana belting out louder than the others and now tossing small flowers up in the air to fall down on the couple. After a couple seconds, the two mages had to look up at whatever was falling on them.

"Asana?" asked Negati. "What are…"

"I'm the flower girl!" the familiar cried. "Is this not what I do? Ohh, you humans and this marriage thing was really confusing when I looked it up…"

Bathory laughed.

"We appreciate the effort. Though maybe we should wait until we get outside."

The couple quickly glanced back at the judge who just smiled lightly and chuckled. Relieved that they were not in any trouble, Bathory turned back and started to head back up the aisle when Negati stopped him.

"Wait," she said and wrapped her arms around the back of Bathory's neck.

"Negati," said Bathory, "wha-"

Negati jumped up to his chest and swung her legs forward, and Bathory had to quickly reach out and hold her in a princess carry. Negati laughed joyously at the maneuver and Bathory couldn't help but smile as well.

"Well, I was going to hold the door for you, but…" Bathory trailed off.

"I gotcha!" said Asana energetically.

As the group went to leave the room, Asana pulled the door into the hallway open and let everyone go through. Then, as the line made their way back to the front doors, Asana rushed back to the front and threw a couple more handfuls of small blossomed flowers up above the couple before holding the front door open. Everyone got out to the front courtyard and Bathory let Negati back to her feet. The couple turned back and faced their friends.

"Thank you everyone for coming along," said Bathory. "I'm glad everyone had time to be here."

Captain Eratarka smirked.

"It's funny, when I'm one of the guests, I can make sure anyone under my command can be there as well."

"True," said Izah. "That's the only way I could get a break."

Izah looked significantly better than she had when she was finally brought into the TSAB. Not only was she back to full health but she'd filled in again after not looking after herself for a while while getting fit from the exercise and gaining her stamina back. Between her community service work and the work getting her ready for active duty again after her sentence she looked like the last couple months hadn't even happened. The limiter, however, was still locked around her lower leg.

"But still," said Negati, "Even if we're not throwing some grand party I'm happy you all wanted to see this."

"Of course," said Vaele, Izah's younger brother. "After everything you did for us, I want to show we're grateful for it."

Vaele was the most dressed up aside from Eratarka and he had his brown ground forces uniform on. At this point, it was finally almost second nature to him and Izah that he actually had a position on the TSAB and was actually wearing one of their uniforms.

Eratarka suddenly perked up.

"Oh, but I had another reason I requested some of you to come - not trying to take away from the moment, just that if I can get people in one place…"

"I understand, Captain," said Negati.

Eratarka sifted through her purse and addressed Arin first.

"Mister Vesceron, I know you've been patiently waiting for your device to be fixed, and I'm happy to say it's finally back."

The Captain took out a light grey crystal, the standby form of Arin's device Retrigal. She held it out and Arin took it from her. Though he looked at it with his normal plain expression, his familiar was energized once again.

"Wow, Mister Arin! That's really great!"

The tall man just moved the gen around in his hand, checking the exterior.

"Hello, Retrigal," he said. "Are you returned to your full capacity?"

The grey gem pulsed with dim light as it responded.

[I HAVE BEEN REPAIRED TO MY MAXIMUM POTENTIAL]

Arin nodded once, then closed his hand around the device. Then, Eratarka looked over at Vaele.

"And as for you…"

She went looking in her purse again.

"I've been told about how you were trying to build your own device and get yourself a unique one, just like your sister did."

Vaele nodded, but his eyes slowly drifted downwards.

"Yeah," he said, "but Izah can do way more, so she got the attention, and-"

"Whoa whoa, quit selling yourself short, kid. What I was going to say is that I wanted to make sure you got one as well."

Eratarka took out a small dark-blue gem that looked similar to Greater Call. She held it out for the boy to take as he looked on, stunned.

"You've been through enough training that the Bureau could make something that compliments your specialties," said the Captain. "So with that, I put in a request just for you. Go on, it's not gonna bite."

Vaele slowly reached out and took the device, holding both hands together and just looking down at it. He'd definitely been caught off guard and he was still a bit confused.

Asana and Izah, however, were definitely excited.

"Wow, Vaele!" yelled Asana. "Go ahead, activate it!"

The boy nodded again and seemed to finally catch up. Still hesitant, but now proceeding forward, he spoke.

"Umm...device, activate!"

Instead of transforming, the gem began to pulse.

[HELLO], it said, [PLEASE STATE A DESIGNATED CALLSIGN FOR THIS DEVICE]

Vaele did not expect this from the gem. Whether through humility or self-doubt he expected a basic storage device like the one he had been given at the start of his training. For this to speak to him, and ask for more details…

The boy slowly looked back up.

"An...an intelligent device?" he asked.

Eratarka smiled.

"Correct," she said.

"Only fitting for such an intelligent young man!" said Izah, going over and running her fingers through her brother's hair. "Now come on, give it a name."

Vaele looked back down.

"Okay...your...your name is Chevron! Chevron, activate!"

The gem began to glow brightly.

[UNDERSTOOD]

It began to transform into the shape of a pistol, and Vaele naturally closed his hand around the grip as it formed in. When the device was done, it was a blue pistol-shaped weapon, though lighter blue than Izah's device was. Vaele just stared transfixed at the weapon.

"Whoa..." he muttered. Then, the device began to pulse again.

[HELLO - MY NAME IS CHEVRON - TIME OF INITIAL ACTIVATION IS MAY 28, YEAR 0078 AT TIME 14:47 OF THE PLANET NEMELENDELLE - MAY MY USER PLEASE STATE THEIR NAME NOW]

Vaele was barely controlling his excitement throughout all that, but at the end there he was once again tripped up by the request.

"Uh...my...my, uh, my name is…"

Izah quickly wrapped her arm around her brother and pulled him in, leaning down to speak to the weapon.

"His name is Vaele Lumiere. Hiya, I'm his sister Izah and this is Greater Call."

She held her own device out and the two quickly exchanges pleasantries.

[HELLO]

[GOOD TO MEET YOU]

Captain Eratarka stepped forward and addressed Chevron as well.

"Your master is a bright new recruit in the Time Space Administration Bureau. He's got the potential to do whatever he puts his mind to. He's a bit of a late arrival, but now there's nothing standing in his way. So, you think you can help him out?"

After that, Chevron pulsed again.

[IT IS MY PURPOSE TO SERVE MY OWNER TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES - NOW THAT I HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED I WISH TO SYNCHRONIZE WITH MY OWNER TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFICS OF MY CUSTOMIZATION]

Vaele looked around quickly.

"Synchronize?"

"Yeah, no, not now," said Izah. "Wait until you get some free time. It's gonna link all up with your brain and linker core and it's a bit of a process to set itself up just right."

"Oh...that sounds...fun…"

"But after that comes the cool part! Then you can start working on cool spells and other forms and it'll be a lot of fun. But yeah, don't do that now."

Vaele nodded again.

"Then...um...Chevron, return to standby. We'll work on this later."

[STANDING BY]

The pistol began to glow again, and it reverted back to a blue gem that Vaele placed in his pocket. After that, Bathory addressed the group.

"Well, we should probably get some pictures of this. Aphelion?"

With the cord wrapped around his lower arm and the gem half-dangling out of his sleeve, Aphelion now pulsed.

[LEAVE IT TO ME, MY MASTER]

A screen formed in front of the couple, first forming in horizantally and then rotating to be taller than it was wide and then zooming away from the two while also expanding until the image on the screen reflecting back at the two caught their whole body. Bathory and Negati looked at the screen, linked arms, and smiled.

"WAIT, LET US IIIIIN!"

Asana cried out again as she barreled into Bathory while trying to get in the shot, tossing him forward to the ground. Somewhere in the middle of that, Aphelion took the picture, and everyone looked up to see a picture of pure chaos. Asana was on her stomach as well on top of Bathory, having expected to be stopped and not be carried forward instead. Amidst a groan from Negati, Izah spoke up.

"Ah, Asana, they would like to have a...special moment for themselves."

"Oh…" muttered the foxgirl. Her tail curled back and her ears lowered.

"Here…" said Bathory, "we can take some group pictures afterwards, okay?"

Asana's energetic side quickly returned.

"Okay!" she said, springing off Bathory and helping him back up. As he dusted himself off and readjusted the front of his outfit, he linked arms with his wife and looked forward again.

"Now," said Negati, "where were we?"

They took several photos, some serious and some with goofy faces before opening it up for the group. There, they got all sorts of variations in the groups, between just a group of two together or a theme with the participants and the whole group. It all went into Aphelion's logs for the new couple to look back on later. Finally, the group broke up and they parted ways, the Kardenis couple towards one car, Arin and Asana to another and the Lumieres and Eratarka to a third. Bathory and Negati were met with one more surprise, however - the message 'Just married' painted onto their back windshield.

They both took a look at it and sighed. It wasn't non-removable but was certainly put there with the expectation that they'd have to drive off with it.

"So how long are we gonna leave that on?" asked Negati.

"Depends on how much people honk at us," said Bathory.

"Do people do that?"

"Yeah. I've certainly done it."

"Well then - karmatic justice."

"Karmic."

"Yeah, karmic justice."

"You said karmatic."

Negati rolled her eyes.

"Whatever! Let's get in the car."

With that, the two got in and drove away. For the moment, everything was fine yet exciting in their lives once again.

* * *

 _We leave. Upward, toward new dreams._  
 _A new hope. An odyssey._  
 _Underneath. The world left behind_  
 _Is dying as we escape gravity._

 _Closing my eyes and I embrace darkness._  
 _The stars will not guide us but their light will show us the way._

 _We are not conquerors._  
 _We float with the tide._

 _No room for fear._  
 _A greater call._  
 _A sacrifice for the benefit of all._

Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas _\- A Greater Call_

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Well. 21 Chapters. Once again, just barely not a nice solid number. Ah well, I'm 3 for 3 now at doing that.

So, you've reached the end of Times of Grace, the third story in my Nanoha-universe series. This story was an experiment for me - choosing to write a completely OC story, going for a much lighter tone, and embracing romance in the story. I was kind of out of my comfort zone with this, I have to admit.

However, just like how there would never have been Raze The Stray without Raise the Dawn, there would never have been Times of Grace without the fourth and final story in this Nanoha-universe series, End of the Harvest. As of March 2018, I've started that up, so head over and see the continuing adventures of Bathory and crew as everything comes full circle. What can you expect? Well, let's just say the planet they all left behind may need them more than ever...

But anyways, thank you so much for reading Times of Grace. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. Feel free to review if you have comments or PM me if you have questions.

 **-TwoZeroTwo**


End file.
